One curse, two saviors
by Lorelei Candice Black
Summary: Rainbow is a powerful fairy and she doesn't want Emma to be alone to carry the burden of breaking the curse so she uses her magic to create another child. Daughter of the Dark One and Belle, she's also the product of true love but nobody knows she exists, not even her mother. Emma and her grow up as sisters. How will they break the curse? Not a Emma/Bella pairing!
1. Chapter 1

**_One curse, two saviors_**

_Once Upon a Time/Twilight_

_The Rainbow fairy is my creation, the rest sadly doesn't belong to me. This story will catch up to the events of the show, at least until they come back from Neverland..._

_When I go over a moment of the story quickly or don't give you detail and say otherwise, then you should assume the story is the same as in the show._

_I think Regina won't be good in this story. No redemption for her, unless I change my mind..._

_Bella and Emma will be paired up... Who will it be with? Not everything is as it seems. I'll add the pairing when the real, definite ones are created in the story._

_Read on,_

_Lorelei Candice Black_

* * *

The Rainbow fairy was a legend and she knew that even though people believed in the existence of fairies, a lot of them didn't believe that she actually existed. She was the oldest of them all and the most powerful of them all also. She very rarely went to see the other fairies, mainly because they, too, believed her to be a legend and because it was one of the conditions to her power, keeping her existence a secret.

Her history was a strange one but the main fact was that she was over 5 thousand years old and her powers had grown so much that she could travel between worlds. The only condition to this power was that she was to remain away from others, a legend and she was all to willing to respect it. She loved helping others and she was able to help a lot of people all over the realms. It was a great feeling and being a bit lonely was worth it in the end, every time she saw happiness on other people's faces.

Right now, she was in the Enchanted Forest, watching as the events she had foreseen recently happened. Regina would, in a few years, throw her curse on the forest and send them all to another realm, one without magic, cursing them to a life without a happy ending. She had seen it all and she couldn't stop it, not when it would give Rumpelstiltskin his son back and when it would turn him back to a nice man but she couldn't let the fate of everyone rest on only one person either. Snow White and Prince Charming would have a baby, a girl they would name Emma and who would be the product of True Love but it wasn't fair to have such a heavy responsibility rest on only one girl, especially with the life she would have for her first 28 years.

The Rainbow fairy had to change it, to make sure Emma wouldn't be alone, to make sure she'd be more capable of believing and of trusting. A lot of lives and happy endings depended on what Rainbow was about to do.

She had to find another True Love couple that would be closely involved in the curse, one that would be strong enough to help out, to change things...

Just as she was wondering who that couple could be she saw Belle kissing Rumpelstiltskin. The young woman's fate wouldn't be a very happy one for the next few years or so and even worst once the curse got broken but she was truly in love with the Dark one and would be his redemption because he loved her truly too. Sadly, Belle's importance in his heart and in his life would come clear too late for the Dark one and he would be partially responsible for Belle's sufferinf but their love was true none the less.

It was suddenly very clear to Rainbow.

It would require a lot of magic, especially since Belle and her love wouldn't have sex until a while after the curse was broken but she was powerful enough to let it happen. She used her magic and took what she needed from the Dark One and magically inserted it inside Belle, knowing that it was the perfect time of the month.

Deciding she was to watch over the young woman, Rainbow watched as Rumpelstiltskin asked Belle to leave, then for a couple of months she watched Belle doing her best to help the dwarfs (especially Dreamy, fated to become Grumpy) and then leaving to save Prince Philippe and Mulan. Just when she decided to go back to her dark love, the Evil Queen arrested Belle and put her in a cell. With an other spell, Rainbow made sure that the pregnancy would stay hidden from everyone, including Belle. She couldn't have anyone starting to guess the existence of this child, especially since Emma's existence would be known by Regina already.

The next few months happened just like she had seen them, without any surprises. When Belle was ready to give birth, Rainbow took the baby magically and kept her. She knew how Belle would want to name her daughter if she knew she had one, she would want to call her Isabella and so that's the name Rainbow wrote on the baby girl's blanket. Then she put the girl in a magical slumber that would keep her completely frozen, unable to grow old or move until the curse came to this land and until her soul sister Emma was born.

It would be much easier in the future if Emma and Isabella were the same age and so Rainbow made it happen.

Over the next few years, Rainbow kept baby Isabella by her side, hoping that nothing would ruin her plans, that everything would be alright.

When Regina freed her curse, Rainbow watched to make sure that Charming made it to the wardrobe. Once the baby left, only a few minutes after Pinocchio did, Rainbow took baby Bella out of her slumber and used her powers to transport her to this world without magic where only she could use her powers for now. She knew that the young boy would see her and that it would take some of her powers away for a while but it was necessary.

It was the price to pay, she would be less powerful for the newt few decades and unable to help the girls more. She would be okay, she would do it. She could be less powerful for a while. She'd go back to her flower hidden home and go back to helping people a little closer to home for a while.

Before she showed herself to the young boy, Rainbow knew that she had to do something else. First she gave Emma a gift, the gift to be able to tell when people lied to her. Then she gave Isabella a gift also, but a different one. She would be able to see the truth behind the stories. It was the best she could do considering she was about to loose some of her magic for a while. Besides, once the curse was broken, the girls would be able to access their own magic, the one that came from being the Savior.

"Hello Pinocchio." She greeted the young boy.

"You're a fairy... The Rainbow fairy... Blue told me about you... How... Why are you here? I've been a good boy, I promise..." He said.

"Don't worry. I'm here to tell you of some changes. This baby is Isabella, you need to make sure she stays with Emma. Tell people that they are sisters if you have to." Rainbow told him.

"But won't it be a lie?" he asked, worried he'd go back to being made of wood.

"Not really. They will be soul sisters, so it's not really a lie. Plus, this world doesn't have magic, so until the curse is broken, you won't be able to go back to being made of wood." She smiled gently at him.

"But who is Isabella? Who are her parents?" He asked her.

"Her father is the Dark one and her mother is his true love, Belle. They don't know she exists but thanks to her, things will be much easier and when you leave Emma, and you will, she won't be alone." Rainbow explained.

"Why would I leave Emma? I promised papa I would keep her safe..." He asked her.

"Because this world is full of temptations and it will be very hard to resist them. Don't worry, all you have to know is that in 28 years, when Emma and Isabella come back here to break the curse, you have to come back and help them. If by then you manage to be brave, truthful and unselfish, then all will be forgiven. I know you don't really know what I'm talking about yet, it's what happens when you speak with someone who doesn't see the future like I do but just know that if you do as I say, all will be fine." She told him.

The young boy was lost but nodded, trying to engrave in his memory everything she just told him.

"How will I carry them both?" He asked.

He was just a small boy after all and if he could carry one baby, he would never be able to carry them both.

Rainbow waved her wand and sparkles of every colors of the rainbow got out of it to form a big cloud and when it evaporated, it left behind a baby stroller that could fit two babies. It wasn't anything fancy or super pretty but it would be able to fit both babies and would ride well through the woods.

"What should I tell people?" he asked.

"Don't worry, just say that you found them in this stroller. Say that you were lost and stumble upon them. I'll make sure nobody asks questions. Now I have to go, I shouldn't have let you see me at all but it was necessary... This weakened me and I'll have to rest for a very long time... I might not be able to watch over them like I wanted..."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise!" He exclaimed.

"I know you won't. Be a good boy Pinocchio. I'm sure I'll see you again some day." She declared before she kissed both girl's foreheads and left in a beautiful rainbow colored cloud.

Once the Rainbow Fairy left, the young boy sighted and put both babies in the stroller before pushing it with difficulty (he was in the woods after all) to a weird road that he decided to follow until someone saw him.

.

Pinocchio decided to use the name "August" since it was the month when he became a real boy and just like Rainbow had told him, he left the girls when another boy gave him the opportunity to see the world, knowing, deep down, that they'd be alright as long as they stayed together. The adults believed the girls to be sisters and they both got the same last name: Swan.

Emma and Isabella Swan.

When he left, he looked one last time at the two girls, sleeping peacefully in the same crib and asked them to forgive him before he followed his new friends out of the house and out of the town.

.

Emma and Isabella went through a lot of homes and were very different from each others but they were also best friends, always together. Deep down, they knew that they weren't sisters, not really, but in their hearts, they loved each others like sisters and it was what was the most important. They were the only ones they could truly trust, believe in.

While Emma had blond hair, hazel eyes, was down to earth, always ready for a fight and capable of taking care of herself and her sister, Isabella had brown hair with bits of red highlights in them under the sun and chocolate eyes, was always reading some book, mainly fairy tales and was quite clumsy. They both knew how to fight if necessary but Isabella was more of a damsel in distress kind of girl.

In regard of the love for each other they shared, their differences didn't matter.

They were so close that they could always find a way to communicate with each other even without speaking. They had mastered it while in a home where they weren't allowed to speak. They had managed to master a way of communicating without speaking, with just one look. It was like they were reading each other's mind. While Bella believed it to be a magical link, Emma was sure that it was simply science and the fact that they knew each other so well that allowed them this luxury.

When they both turned 18, Isabella got a scholarship to go to college and Emma decided to be on her own for a while, knowing that college wasn't for her. Of course they were never too far from each other and kept in touch. They knew that they never would be able to stay away from each other for too long.

When Emma met and fell in love with Neal while in Portland, she told Bella who promised she would come and see them as soon as she could but sadly it didn't last long and when Bella managed to gather enough money to make the trip, it was to visit Emma in jail and to learn that her sister was pregnant.

Emma wanted to give up the baby and if Bella knew that her sister would regret it some day, she couldn't convince her otherwise. Emma was convinced that she wasn't mother material, that her baby deserved a real chance, with a real family and that since she never had a mother she couldn't be one.

Bella was there with her sister when Emma gave birth and she got to hold the baby boy for a few minutes until the nurse took him away. Deep down, she knew that she would see that boy again, that it wasn't the last time she saw her nephew.

"See you later, little prince." She told the baby as the nurse took him in her arms and left the room.

.

Rainbow hadn't been able to influence the girl's lives but she had been able to see it all and she knew what she had to do now. She used her magic to create a book where all the real stories of the people from the Enchanted Forest got written down. There was the real story of Pinocchio, up to the point he got into the wardrobe and chose the name of August, the Mad-Hatter, Cinderella and her deal with the Dark one, the entire story of the Dark One of course, starting when he become the Dark one, Snow white's story, The Evil Queen's entire story, Cora's role was also in the book, Belle and The Dark One's love story was also in the book and Rainbow included her own story and what she had done. Of course the book ended with Emma going through the Portal but Rainbow added another page at the last minute, explaining how she made sure that Isabella and Emma would grow up as sisters and would always be there for each others. It took a lot of work and she finished her work by naming the big, tick book "Once Upon a Time". Then she used her magic to make sure the book would always find Emma's son Henry, who had been adopted by Regina.

In 10 years the curse would break and everyone would be able to gain their happy endings again.

For now, Emma finished her time in jail before getting her life back on tracks and joining her sister who was studying psychology and literature in Seattle.

Bella got her license in Literature and spent her time being a free lance journalist. Rainbow watched as they moved around a lot and when they finally moved to Boston, a few months after their 27th birthday, Rainbow watched as the book was given to Henry by Mary-Margaret Blanchard, the woman that was his biological grandmother and his teacher.

Now all Rainbow could do was cross her fingers and hope that everything would work well for everyone, that they would believe and break the curse. If Emma and Bella were both the product of true love and saviors, with all the powers that gave them, only Emma could break the curse because it's her parent's DNA that was included in the scroll of the curse. Bella's role would be to help Emma believe, to make things easier for her.

* * *

**It's a start... I don't know how long I'll make this... I have ideas but we'll see where they lead. Right now I have 6 chapters written and material for a few more.**

**This chapter is more of an introduction.**

**Who do you want to see? **

**Review please, I really need to know what you think of this.**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Part 2_**

* * *

Henry was in the bus that was driving him to Boston, to find his real mother and he was buried in his book, eager to read it again and again, never having enough, always on the look out for more information that could help him.

He briefly wondered if stealing his teacher's credit card to find his mother and come here made him a bad little boy but he brushed it off. It was for the good cause and in the process of saving everyone, the hero sometimes had to make sacrifices. It was his. He would do whatever was necessary to bring his mother, Emma, back to Storybrook.

An old lady tried to make conversation with him but Henry wasn't an idiot, he knew it could be dangerous to trust strangers, especially in a town so big so he gave her short, closed answer and went back to his reading. There had to be something in the book that would make everything easier for him, that would help convince his mother.

He wondered if the other Savior, Isabella, was still with his mother or if they had drifted apart.

* * *

Bella and Emma were alone in their small apartment, two cupcakes in their hands with a candle light on top of each of them. Emma was now a bails-bond person and had caught, earlier that day, a man that allowed her to receive a lot of cash. Another reason to celebrate today, beside their birthday.

"Time to blow the candles." Emma smiled.

They both closed their eyes and, facing each other, they blew their own candle, making a silent wish. It was always the same one, for the both of them. They always wished for the same thing: to finally find their parents, not to be alone anymore.

"Things are about to change Emma... I don't know how but we're going to find our families soon." Bella assured her sister once the candles were blown.

"Our parents abandoned us Bella, they didn't want us. How do you think they'll find us?" Emma asked her.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll find them... All I know is that we'll find them soon. I can feel it just like I could feel that something bad would happen to you shortly before Neal left you." Bella replied.

"Then all I can do is believe you and wait for it to happen." Emma smiled.

She didn't believe in much, but she believed in Bella's power to see the truth and know things, just like she believed in her own power to detect lies.

They were about to take a bite of their birthday cupcakes when the doorbell rang. Wondering who it was, they both put the sweet birthday threats down and headed for the door together. Emma opened it and they both looked down to see a boy, not much older than 10, standing there with a backpack and a wide smile.

"Hello, is one of you Emma Swan?" He asked as soon as they looked at him.

"Yes, I am. Who are you?" Emma asked him, confused.

"I'm Henry. I'm your son." He declared before pushing his way inside their apartment not waiting for an answer or an invitation.

"What? I... I don't have a son. Where are your parents?" Emma said, following after him while Bella closed the door, knowing that what was happening right now was what she had felt coming.

"Did you give up a baby for adoption 10 years ago?" He asked her.

"Oh my..." Bella whispered.

"That was me." Henry added.

"Give me a minute." Emma asked before she ran out of the room to lock herself in the bathroom.

"I'm Bella... I'm..your aunt...I... You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you..." She told him as she served him a glass of Orange juice.

"You were there when I was born?" He asked her.

"Of course, I even held you for a while... I knew we'd see you again some day..." Bella replied, finishing her sentence in a whisper.

"But you're not Emma's real sister are you?" he asked her.

"We did a DNA test a while back and no, we're not. But we are sisters in all the ways that matter. DNA doesn't matter when the heart believes." Bella replied.

"You're in the book too. Just like Emma. I came to bring you both back with me so you can break the curse." Henry explained, looking at Emma who had just walked back in the room.

"So, where are your parents? Why are you here all alone?" Emma asked him and Henry started telling him how he believed his adoptive single mother to be the Evil Queen and that they needed to come with him to Storybrook to break a curse and save everyone, including their parents.

Of course Emma didn't believe him and wanted to call the cops but Bella intervened and asked to speak with Emma alone. They walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind them, leaving Henry alone for a few minutes.

"Oh god... He... He looks like Neal..." Emma whispered.

"Really?" Bella asked.

She had never met Neal and Emma didn't even have a picture of him. All she had was a little yellow bug and a swan key chain to remind herself not to trust anyone but herself and her sister ever again.

"So, what now?" Bella asked after Emma nodded.

"Now? I drive him back to his home and try to go on with my life, to forget about it." Emma replied.

The reason she hadn't looked at him when she gave birth to him was because she knew that once she did, she wouldn't be able to let him go. Now here he was and she already knew, deep down, that she would never be able to let him go, that he would never leave her mind again.

"Do you think you can really turn your back on him a second time?" Bella asked her.

"I can try..." Emma replied but it was obvious that she didn't believe in her own words.

"What about the curse?" Bella asked her.

"Oh, come one, don't tell me you actually believe that?"

"Did you detect a lie?"

"Of course not but he can very well believe in what he's saying without it being true..." Emma replied.

"Then how come do I feel like he's saying the truth? That this curse is real? That we need to follow him in order to find our families?" She asked her sister.

"I... Come on Bella... The Evil Queen? A curse?" Emma didn't want to believe it but she knew that if Bella believe in it, then she would do as her sister suggested.

"Listen, I have an idea. Why don't we go back in there, listen to him explain how he knows this and who he thinks we are. Then we'll decide if we're just dropping him back with his adoptive mother or if we're going to stay there for a while." Bella suggested.

"Fine." Emma agreed with a sight.

She had never been capable of resisting Bella when she truly wanted something, which wasn't very often at all.

They both walked back in the main room to see that Henry was sitting down on the couch, a big storybook opened on his lap.

"Okay kid, we're listening to what you have to say but you better convince us." Emma said.

"You, Emma, are the daughter of Snow White and Prince charming." Henry declared.

"Of course I am." Emma sighted, rolling her eyes.

"You Bella, are the daughter of Belle and The Dark One, also called Rumpelstiltskin. I guess they're kind of like Beauty and the Beast. They don't know you exist. A legendary fairy made sure you'd exist without them ever creating you so that Emma wouldn't be alone to break the curse. She made sure you'd always be together." Henry explained, showing them the right pages of the book as he spoke.

"It makes sense." Bella nodded.

"What? Don't tell me you believe this story..." Emma exclaimed.

"I do... Listen Emma, I know it sound crazy but I have this feeling, like it's the truth... I know you don't want to believe it, that you're not ready, but... Just give it a chance Emma... Let's drive him back to Storybrook and plan to stay there for a couple of weeks... If you're still not convinced by then, I'll listen to you and we'll leave." Bella insisted, looking her sister in the eyes to show her that she was serious and really believed in what she was saying.

"Fine, let's pack a bag and we'll go." Emma sighted.

She was unable to refuse anything to Bella, not after the sacrifices her sister had made to stay with her. Bella could have had a great job reporting for the New York Times, she could have even settled down and become a licences psycho-therapist, a great one at that. She had a degree for it. But instead she became a freelance journalist and won extra money by holding an advise column through the internet. Bella had followed her everywhere she had wanted to go and Emma was grateful so now, if Bella wanted to follow Henry, then she decided that she owed it to her to follow him too and to give their crazy and impossible theory a chance, even if looking at the boy was hurting her and bringing back old painful memories.

Both women packed a big bag with enough clothes for two weeks. Bella packed her lap top so she could keep on working and they both called to cancel the few obligations they had for the next two weeks. They were ready to go in less than an hour and Henry was happily sitting in the back seat of the bug, eating the cheeseburger his biological mother had gotten him on the way.

Emma glanced back at Henry while she drove and sighted. It was hard to look at him, not only because it reminded her of the pain she felt when she had to let him go but because he also reminded her of Neal, his father, and of the pain she still felt when she thought of him.

She had left him to give him his best chance and even if his adoptive mother wasn't an Evil queen, she might not make him happy and then Emma would have to make a decision. She would have to decide if she was ready to get him back into her life or if she would have the strengths to let him go once more.

"It will be okay Emma. It won't be easy for any of us but in the end we'll be okay." Bella reassured her.

"I hope you're right." Emma replied.

.

Of course, as soon as they arrived in Storybrook, Henry refused to tell them his address, wanting to prolong their moments together, but they thankfully met his therapist who told them where to go before he advised them to stay at Granny's when they asked him which place would be better.

They dropped Henry off to his mother, Regina Mills, who seemed happy to see him but Emma felt that something was off. If the woman loved Henry, she didn't really care for his happiness. A man was with her when they arrived, Graham, the sheriff but he quickly left to go and see if Henry was okay. It was obvious that he simple didn't want to stand between Emma and Regina. The air between the two of them was tensed already and Bella knew they were both ready for a fight.

"So, I guess you'll be leaving now, you have a long road ahead of you." Regina told the two women standing in front of her and threatening her happiness, her curse.

"No, we promised Henry we would stay for a couple of weeks. He said that if we left immediately after dropping him off he'd run away again." Bella explained.

"Really? Don't you think this is going to confuse him more than anything?" Regina asked, obviously unhappy about this.

"No, I think it's just what he needs." Emma replied, surprising Bella with the passion behind her words.

"Very well... How about a glass of the best Apple cider you've ever tasted before you go then?" Regina suggested, a fake smile on her lips.

"Maybe another time." Emma replied.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go and get a room before they close down." Bella smiled at the mayor of the town and guided her sister to their car.

"Henry is right in one point: there is something wrong with this woman and I'm not leaving until I know what it is." Emma decided.

"You love him already I can tell... Well, he's a clever kid, that's for sure. Look at what he left in the back seat." Bella said, pointing to the storybook.

"He wanted to be sure that we'd come back to give it to him if we ever broke our promise to him and left town." Emma smiled.

"He's your son alright..."

"Yes, that he is..." Emma sighted.

They parked the car in front of Granny's and came in with their bags. The old woman had enough vacancy to give them two rooms with an adjoining door and they took their keys, thanking the old woman for giving them a nice view and they went in their room. They were told they needed to pay only when they gave the key back.

"Mister Gold. Here is the rant for the Month." The old woman said, handing the man his cash right after giving the keys to the visitors.

"Thank you. I'm Mister Gold, pawn-broker in town. You are?" He asked them.

"I'm Isabella Swan and this is my sister, Emma." Bella introduced herself, shaking the man's hand.

She couldn't help but feel a link to this man. Was it her or did he have her eyes?

"Emma...such a nice name. Well, welcome to Storybrook. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you." Mister Gold declared before he left with a satisfied smile on his face.

.

They went in their bedrooms and settled down, opening the door that was between their rooms so they could talk.

"What's wrong Bella? You look pensive..." Emma asked her while she got ready to get a shower.

"Mister Gold... I... I need to know who he is in this book..." Bella replied, pointing to Henry's book that she had dropped on her bed.

"Why? What's so important with him?" Emma asked, confused.

She decided not to repeat how crazy it was that she believed Henry's theory. Bella knew what she thought about it, there was no point in repeating it over and over again.

"I... I can't explain it, I just feel like he's important to me and... I noticed that... he... He has my eyes... or..."

"Or you have his..." Emma finished.

"I know that you don't believe but... He might be my father, or I might be related to him in some way... I... I think I'm going to read Henry's book before you give it back to him tomorrow." Bella explained the best way she could.

"Well, you do that. I'm going to bed as soon as I'm done with my shower. I've been up since 4 am and can't wait to get some sleep." Emma replied.

Bella nodded and as she read the book, she could see the true identity of the people she had already met. The sheriff, Graham, was the Huntsman, Ruby was Little Red Riding Hood, Regina was the Evil Queen and Archie, the therapist was Jiminy Cricket. Lastly and most importantly, Mister Gold was Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One...her father.

She figured that he shouldn't be under the curse since he had created it to find his son, her half brother but how could she be sure? Would he believe her? The fact that he wasn't under the curse would explain his reaction to Emma's name but he still didn't know she could even exist... She wanted to talk to him, she wanted him to know who she was...if he could believe...

She fell asleep thinking of ways to approach him the next day.

.

The next morning, Emma and Bella went to get their breakfast at Granny's dinner and got introduced to Henry's teacher, Mary-Margaret Blanchard.

"She's Snow White, your mother." Bella told Emma after the teacher left with her coffee.

"Right... Come on, Henry's over there." Emma said, pointing to a table where Henry was waiting for them with hot chocolate and muffins for them.

They talked a bit and before Henry left for school Bella asked:

"Do you mind if I keep the book today? I need it for something... I'll give it back to you after school, I promise."

"Of course Aunt Bella, no problem. Read away. I've got a therapy session with doctor Hopper after school, you can both meet me there." Henry said before he left to catch his bus to school.

He seemed very happy to know that someone finally believed in him and he showed it by calling her '_aunt Bella_'. She, too, liked it.

"So, what are you going to do with this book? I thought you were done reading it?" Emma asked her.

"I need to try and talk with Mister Gold... I... I just need to try..." Bella replied.

"You still believe in this story then? You truly think that Henry's teacher is my mother?" Emma asked.

"Yes, and you will too, soon enough." Bella replied.

"If you say so."

"What about you? What are you going to do today?" Bella asked her.

"I don't know... I think I'll visit the town, get to know some people, see if there's anything interesting..." Emma replied.

"Okay well, I'm going to go now but I'll keep my cellphone with me. Call if you want to join me." She said, standing up.

"Be careful Bells. I'm just a phone call away if you need anything." Emma told her sister who smiled at her, finished her hot chocolate and left the dinner, planning on walking to get where she needed to go.

She had gotten directions earlier from Ruby and she knew that it wasn't too far away but before she left she went back to her room and stated on writing down the pieces of the story that explained who she was and how she came to be. She couldn't give the book to him because she needed to keep it safe for Henry but she could give him a copy of the story.

Once she was done writing everything down, she put the book in Emma's car and texted her where it was in case she needed it before they met up and then she was on her way to who was, maybe, her father.

.

Emma thought about what Bella told her and decided that she would try to at least get to know Mary-Margaret. The woman seemed nice enough and even if she wasn't her mother, she could be a friend and she felt that she would need friends in this town if she wanted to go against Regina.

* * *

**So, this was the second chapter... **

**What do you think of it?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Part 3**_

_**HELLO!**_

_**I've been nominated in the Burning Diamond awards! Isn't that great? **_

_**Please take a few minutes of your time to go and vote for me, that would mean a lot to me!**_

_**Site: burningdiamondawards . blogspot . com**_

_**Dates for voting: 3rd January to 15th January.**_

_**Thank you greatly!**_

_**Lorelei Candice Black**_

* * *

When Bella arrived in front of the shop, she was nervous. The few pages folded in her purse seemed to be suddenly much heavier than they truly were and she was on the verge of a panic attack. She really needed to calm down. Taking a big breath in, she pushed the door open and listened as the bell over the door announced her presence to the man she strongly suspected of being her father.

The man she came to see walked in from the back room. She could see recognition on his face.

"Ah, Miss Swan. How was your first night in Storybrook?" He asked her.

"Very nice, thank you. I think I slept better than Emma... Henry was a big surprise for her and it brings back memories that are painful..." Bella replied honestly.

"I understand, loosing a child is always painful, no matter the circumstances. The entire town already speaks of your presence. I think Regina got up early to try to get everyone to hate your sister so she would leave... Anyway, what can I do for you on this fine day?" He asked her.

"I... Have you heard of Henry's theory?" Bella asked him.

"The one where everyone in this town is a fairy tale character? Yes, I've heard it. I think most people have, the ones he crosses often at least." He replied, smiling.

"Do you believe in it?" Bella asked nervously.

"I'm a grown man Miss Swan. I believe in a lot of things, but not in the impossible." He was hiding something, she felt it and she knew that she could go ahead with her plan.

She got the pages out of her bag and put them down the counter, still folded.

"Henry left his storybook in the car and I read it last night... Do you know that Emma and I are in it too?"

"You too?" He asked, surprised.

She smiled. It was a sign that she was right, he knew.

"Yes... I...I think that you know about Emma and I'd like to tell you about who I am." She declared, trying to sound braver than she really felt.

"Really? You believe in his little theory?" he asked her.

"I don't really have a choice... Sometimes, the truth appears to me, and I can't deny it just like Emma can tell when she is being lied to. It's our own superpowers. I also believe that it's important that YOU know who I am." She explained.

"Who are you then? In the book I mean." He asked her and she could see that he was truly interested.

"First of all, do you know who the Rainbow fairy is?" She asked him.

"I've heard of her legend but I had no idea she had anything to do with Henry's stories."

"I...I think it will be better if you read that part yourself." She said, opening the pages she had copied.

"I copied everything down so you could read it at your own pace... I...I was going to stay here and look around until you were done but I've got a feeling that Emma needs me... I... You know where to find me if you want to talk after reading this." She said, feeling deep down that something was wrong with Emma.

"You think your sister is in trouble?" He asked her.

"Yes, I could always feel it when she needed me. Listen , I just want you to know that I **do** want to speak with you once you're done reading those pages but if you don't want to, then I'll accept it. I won't force you into anything." She explained before she left.

Bella walked out the door and turned around before it closed. He had the pages in his hand and was heading to the back room of the shop, probably to read everything while sitting, which was probably a good thing. She didn't want him to faint and get hurt.

It was already around 11 am and Bella was about to call Emma when her cell phone rang. She answered:

"Emma, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Bella, I know you wanted to speak with M. Gold but I got arrested. Can you come and pick me up please?" She asked.

"Arrested? Already? What did you do?" Bella asked, confused.

"I wanted to talk to Henry's mother, try to find out what was wrong with her and she offered me some apple cider."

"And you drank it? Come on Emma, if she's the Evil queen her apples are poisoned!" Bella exclaimed.

"Well, I don't know if they're poisoned but her cider is stronger than anything I've drunk before. I passed out after one drink and she called the Sheriff, saying that I came in drunk and tried to attack her." Emma sounded very angry at this.

"I'll be right there." Bella promised.

She could already see the Sheriff's station ahead of her. She walked in and quickly found her sister who was having her picture taken by the handsome sheriff.

"I'm here to bail her out." Bella announced as soon as she passed the door.

"I didn't do anything, I just went to talk to her, I swear!" Emma told the man who took the cuffs off of her.

"I know Em." Bella nodded.

"Listen, all I can tell you is to be careful. Regina has lots of allies in this town. You don't know what she's capable of." Graham warned them after Bella paid.

"She's the one who should be careful. She doesn't know what _I'm_ capable of. I just wanted to talk to her and she does this? She's in for a surprise." Emma said as she walked out of the room followed by her sister.

"What are you going to do now?" Bella asked her.

"She loves her apples so much then I'll do some cutting. What about you, did you managed to talk to Gold?"

"Yes, I simply gave him a copy of the pages that concern me. He obviously knows so... I had to leave before he started reading but I told him he'd know where to find me if he wanted to speak." Bella explained.

"You really believe in this story?" The blond savior asked, doubtful.

"Yes, I do."

"Why?" Emma asked her.

"Why not? Why don't you believe Em?"

"I... I can't Bell, I... It's too much..." Emma replied, almost begging.

"Take your time, don't worry. It will be alright." Bella knew that Emma would believe soon, she just had to have faith.

.

The two young women went to have some lunch at Granny's before Emma went to buy a chainsaw. Bella went with her and stayed behind while her sister cut off one of the biggest branch of the tree and warned Regina to stay away.

"Hey, don't walk away from me like that! I'll have you arrested for this! This is destruction of city property!" Regina protested in a very angry voice.

They ignored her and walked back to the car together.

"She'll try to have you arrested again you know..." Bella warned her.

"If she does it'll only show people that she's trying to find any excuses to get to me. I can take her. We'll be fine." Emma replied as she started her car and drove them back in the town's square.

"I hope so. Come on, let's go back to our rooms so you can change out of those clothes, they're all dirty from the tree cutting." Bella suggested.

When they arrived in the Bed and Breakfast, Granny was waiting for them and informed them that they couldn't stay here anymore because she just got reminded of a law stating that they couldn't have guest with criminal records.

"Let me guess, Regina just called to remind you of this law." Emma guessed.

"I'm sorry... You can take your time to pack your things but I'll needs those keys back."

The sisters could see that Granny was pained by what she had to do and since they didn't want Regina to try and hurt the sweet old woman, they simply nodded and smiled at her, letting her know that they weren't mad at her and that they understood.

.

"So, where are we going to stay now?" Bella asked her sister.

"Well, if she wants me to leave she's dreaming. Her determination to make me leave only strengthen my own determination to stay. We'll sleep in the car until we can find a place." Emma told her sister who nodded.

They put their bags in the car and since it was already time for Henry's therapy session, they went to join him and gave him his book back while informing him of what just happened. He was angry of course but he was also confident that everything would be alright. He assured them that in the book, things always looked worst before they started getting better.

They let Henry go to his session and promised to wait for him at Granny's and to buy him a cup of hot chocolate when he was done.

They both walked a bit around town and arrived at the small dinner early. Mary-Margaret was there, ordering coffee to go and so they talked a bit. The young woman was very nice and Bella knew that Emma was already getting close to her. There was an instant connection between the two women, it was obvious. After the teacher left, they got a table and ordered 3 muffins and 3 hot chocolates, knowing that Henry would be there soon.

When the door opened they turned around thinking it was Henry but it wasn't. It was M. Gold and he was looking around eagerly. When his eyes landed on the two young women, he smiled and nervously walked over to them.

.

Rumpelstiltskin had been able to break out of this "M. Gold" cage that the curse gave him as soon as Emma introduced herself and he was eager to see her break the curse. Of course he had been more than curious about the woman that claimed to be her sister but he didn't put much thoughts into it, until she came to see him that was. Not only did she believe in Henry's theory but she was part of the story and ready to give him all the information he wanted without having to be bought or threatened.

Who was she?

Why did she remind him of Belle?

He got his answers after she left his shop, when he read the story she had left him and he was thankful he had been sitting while reading it because it was quite a shock, even to him.

Could she really be his daughter with Belle?

It all made sense but he wondered if it really could be true, if it wasn't a trick from Regina or someone else... Closing his eyes, he thought back of when she was in his shop. Her eyes, that he saw every morning in his mirror, her smile that was so similar to Belle's, everything about her was familiar and yet he couldn't get himself to believe his luck.

He read the pages again and when he was done with his second reading, he decided he could believe it and folded them, placing them under Belle's chipped cup. He knew that the Rainbow Fairy really existed but never had he imagined that she had that kind of power... Maybe she could have helped him finding Bae instead of him creating this curse...

He shook his head and stood up.

He had a daughter and this was a second chance he wouldn't let pass up. He had lost Bae and Belle but he wouldn't lose her. This time, he would learn from his past mistakes and do things right. He would be open and honest with her, he wouldn't let her go and he would protect her at all costs. It might end up changing his plans but he would make sure his daughter was fine, he wouldn't use her or put her and the people she cared about in danger. He wouldn't screw up this second chance Rainbow had given him. He would even give her what Belle had asked of him, the one thing he hadn't been able to give his dear love: complete honesty of the heart.

He took his coat and closed his shop, deciding to find her, talk to her and get to know this daughter the Rainbow fairy had granted him with.

When he arrived at Granny's Bed and Breakfast, Ruby regretfully informed him of what Regina had done and he left, mad that his daughter was on the street and hoping she wouldn't leave town so fast. He would find them a place to stay, after all, he owned most of the town. Maybe the free apartment that was in the same building as Mary-Margaret would do, it would be perfect because Emma would be close to her mother then...

He decided to try his luck at the dinner, hoping they wouldn't leave without eating or saying goodbye to Henry first and here they were, sitting at a table together with what looked like hot chocolates.

Right after he came in, Henry did too and rushed past him to sit in front of Emma with a big smile on his face. The young boy was obviously happy to see his birth mother.

"I'll let you two talk. I have someone I need to speak with. Emma will explain everything to you Henry." Bella said before she finished her cup and stood to join Gold by the door.

"Hi." She said shyly with a soft blush on her cheeks.

"Hi... Should we go for a walk maybe?" he offered, feeling that she wasn't very comfortable standing in front of everybody.

She nodded and followed him out the door.

"I learned that Regina worked her magic so you couldn't stay at the Bed and Breakfast...Where are you going to stay?" He asked her, feeling that this was a good way to start.

"Well, we're not about to let ourselves be run out of town now that **I** know the curse is true. Even if Emma doesn't believe yet she won't leave Henry now, not when he needs her. I guess we'll sleep in the car until we can find a place..." She replied.

"I own a lot of properties around town... I would offer a couple of rooms in my own house but maybe it's too soon for you... I know I need to get used to the fact that..." He started.

"...that I'm your daughter? It's new to me too... I've never had a father before..." she smiled.

"Well, until we get to know each other enough for you to be comfortable living in my house I'm not about to let you sleep in a car. That's just uncivilized and un worthy of youtwo. I happen to own an empty apartment in the building where Mary-Margaret Blanchard and the Sheriff live. You and Emma could go and live there. It's not fully furnished but I can make sure you get everything you need in there by tonight." he offered.

"Really? How much is the rent?" She asked him.

"You're my daughter, I might be a cruel man to many but I'm not heartless. You won't have anything to pay for it. Let's think of it as a very late gift to make up for all the birthdays that I've missed." he said with a smile.

"Thank you... You know, Emma and I's birthday was only yesterday... Finally finding you is the best gift ever." She smiled at him.

"Well, let's go back to my shop then. I'll make a few calls and make sure you and Emma have everything you need right away." he smiled.

"I'll text Emma with the good news on the way." She nodded with a thankful smile and followed him.

They both walked back to his shop and they kept on talking on the way, getting to know each other as they walked.

"So, have you found my mother yet? I mean, I know she's under the curse but... Well, I could still see her...get to know her..." Bella asked.

"You don't know? Your mother died... Her father killed her..." He replied.

"What? No! In the book she left you, met some dwarfs and made friends with them, then met someone named Mulan. Together they freed a prince named Philippe from a curse Maleficent put him under and instead of going with them she went to find you again, give your love another chance but the Evil Queen, Regina, arrested her. You can ask Henry to show you his book, it's all in there." Bella explained and her father stopped walking and looked at her with big eyes.

"Really? As soon as this curse is broken, I'll be happy to kill her." He frowned.

"We'll find her, I know we will." She reassured him.

"Yes, we will."

They had arrived to his shop already and he let her in. She watched as he made a few calls to people who owed him money or favors and in less than an hour, all the furniture they would need was on it's way. They called Emma and were on their way to the apartment to settle everything.

"You know, M. Gold is a bit formal and Rumpelstiltskin is kind of a mouth full and would raise suspicions from Regina. I need something else to call you..." She told him.

"You could always call me '_dad_' if you're ready for it, I won't mind... I think I might even like it." He smiled at her.

"I think I'd like that also but how will we explain this to everyone?" She asked him.

"To the town we'll say that I didn't know your mother was pregnant and that you just found me. To Regina, well, she doesn't need to know anything else. Let's see if curiosity will kill her like it did the cat." He replied and she nodded.

"How did Bae, my brother, call you?" She asked him curiously.

"He called me 'papa', but I think it would raise Regina's suspicions if you called me that." He replied.

"True." Bella nodded.

Soon, they found Emma, talking with Graham and Mary-Margaret in front of the building.

"Where's Henry?" Bella asked.

"He went back home so Regina didn't ground him. I told him everything... So... Is it true? Is he your father?" Emma asked Bella.

"Yes, _everything_ is true." Bella nodded.

It was a hidden way to tell her that not only was he her father but the curse and the fairy tales were true also. Emma nodded, still not sure if she could believe it yet.

They all turned around as several small trucks arrived and Graham helped carry the beds, couch, tables, chairs and other furniture inside their apartment. Everyone helped, even M. Gold and soon everything was in place and Ruby was bringing them food from Granny's since they hadn't had the time to shop for groceries yet.

.

Much later, once everyone had left, Bella and Emma were left alone in their new place.

"So, happy you found your father?" Emma asked her.

"Yes, I'm very happy... We made plans to meet up tomorrow. I gave him my cell phone number." She replied, yawning.

"You should go and get some sleep. Something tells me you didn't sleep much last night." Emma advised her.

"You're right. Good night. When are you meeting Henry tomorrow?"

"I'll walk him to his bus. We'll talk about _'Operation Cobra'_" Emma replied.

"Is it the code name of the operation to break the curse?" Bella asked and Emma nodded.

When Bella went to sleep that night, she knew that things wouldn't be easy. Her father wasn't used to letting people in and if she wanted to be close to him, it would take some time but she felt confident that it would work well eventually. He did make some effort to give her and Emma a comfortable place to stay so maybe he was ready to work for it.

* * *

**So, this is the third chapter... What do you think of it?**

**Review please.**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Part 4_**

* * *

Their first morning in their new apartment started by a delivery man bringing them a great flat screen TV and all the equipment that came with it. It was a gift from M. Gold. There was a card with it saying it was a late birthday present for the two girls.

"We should go buy some groceries today, we don't have anything here..." Emma said thoughtfully after everything was set up.

"We'll go right after your walk with Henry." Bella nodded.

"When you go and see M. Gold today thank him for the TV but maybe you should inform him that you read more than watch TV before he invests in a big DVD collection..." Emma said with an amused smile later as they walked toward where they were meeting Henry.

"I will... Last night I called and made sure all of our things would get sent here from the apartment..." Bella informed her, wondering if her sister would get mad or be happy.

"Good."

"You're not mad? I didn't ask you if you wanted to stay longer or not..."

"Of course not. You know me better than I know myself sometimes and I know you're right. I can't leave now... When I gave Henry up I wanted to give him his best chance and now that I know he doesn't have it, I'm not going anywhere without him." Emma nodded.

.

The two young women walked Henry to his bus and once he was on it, they went to Granny's for some breakfast. In the newspaper, Emma's criminal past was printed on the front page for everyone to read.

"It's supposed to be sealed! Nobody should be able to see that!" Emma protested in anger.

"Regina really wants you out of here..." Bella sighted.

"I'm just glad Henry warned us and doesn't take this too badly..." Emma replied.

"She won't win Emma. Don't worry. Good will win this fight."

"Life isn't a fairy tale Bella...but you're right, I won't let her win this." Emma replied just as their breakfast was served.

"You spoke a long time with Mary-Margaret last night..." Bella started.

"Yes, she's easy to love and trust." Emma replied.

"Would it be so bad if she happened to be your mother?"

"No, not at all... Speaking of which, yesterday Henry said that a patient in a coma was her husband, my father, but that because of the curse they forgot... She agreed to read to him this afternoon... He thinks it will help him wake up... I figured that when it didn't work it would show him that this all _fairy tale thing_ was just a story..." Emma explained.

"Emma... I believe in it also and I'm pretty sure that it will work. One day you will believe, you'll see." Bella assured her.

"I guess we'll see." Emma sighted.

"I'm going to go and buy some groceries, then I'll meet my father and spend the day with him... What about you? What are you going to do?" Bella asked her.

"I'll go and speak to Doctor Hopper for a while. I want to know what he thinks of Henry and if he thinks he's really happy with Regina. Then I'll join Mary-Margaret and her class at the hospital." Emma replied.

"Do you want to go shopping with me?"

"No, you go ahead, you're much better at grocery shopping than I am. If I go we'll have lots of sweets and no actual food." Emma smiled.

"True. Do you need anything else like shampoo or something else?" Bella asked her.

"No, I'm fine for now." Emma said as she finished her plate.

When they were done, they paid and each went their own way.

While Emma went to speak with Doctor Hopper, trying to convince him to be honest with her and not to let himself be controlled by Regina, Bella bought all the groceries they would need for the week. After dropping them off at their apartment, she walked all the way to her father's shop.

"Isabella! I thought you'd come much later. Didn't you want to sleep in for a bit?" He asked her.

"Emma had to meet Henry before he went to school and I went grocery shopping. I'm not much of a late sleeper." She smiled as he guided her to the back room of the shop.

"Is Emma ready to believe yet?" he asked her.

"Sadly no... But it might change by tomorrow..."

"How come?" He asked curiously.

"Henry told Emma and Mary-Margaret about a coma patient that he believes to be Prince Charming and convinced Mary-Margaret to read their story to him. He believes it will wake him up. Emma agreed because she figured that if it doesn't work then Henry will stop believing... I figured that _when_ it works it will be a step up for Emma to believe." Bella explained.

"This kid is smart. Did you get my gift?" He asked her.

"Yes, thank you. It was very generous of you." She smiled.

"So, what do you want to do today?" He asked her.

"I figured we could simply talk about our lives but before we do I'd like us to agree to something... Kind of like a contract between us..." She asked shyly and blushing.

"Of course, anything you want... What is it you want?" He asked her.

He didn't know why but he already cared dearly about his daughter and he couldn't bare the thought of her getting hurt, especially by him.

"I'd like for us to swear we'll always be honest with each other, always tell each other the truth. I'm not stupid, I know that there are part of your past I won't like, that you did things I wouldn't approve off but I want us to swear we'll always be completely honest with each others." She asked him.

"Of course Isabella. I give you my word. I'll never lie to you, never hide anything from you." He promised and she knew, looking him in the eyes, that he would keep his word.

"In exchange I give you my word that I won't run. No matter what you tell me, I'll never run from you. I'll always have a second chance in store for you. I've been wanting a father for so long that I'm not about to leave you, no matter what." She replied, smiling softly.

"You're so much like your mother... I need to find out where Regina is keeping her..." he sighted.

"And we will. It won't be easy now because it looks like the entire town is spying for her but as soon as the curse breaks we'll be able to find her easily, you'll see." She promised.

"I know..."

"So, why don't you tell me more about yourself?" She asked him as he served her some tea.

"Where should I start?"

"I don't know... Your childhood? Anywhere you want..." She replied.

"I'll start by telling you a part of my story absolutely nobody knows about. It all started with my father trying to get rid of me by putting me in the care of two women..." He started and told her all there was to know about him, not hiding anything.

He told her how her father became Peter Pan, how he became a coward, how he lost Milah and he didn't hide the fact that he killed her because her confession had hurt him. He had never been this honest with anyone before and he knew that this was what Belle had expected from him all those years ago. He finished by telling her that he was planning on bringing magic back to Storybrook after the curse was broken so he could find her half brother.

"How do you know he's still alive? I mean if he arrived here he would be a couple of hundred years old by now..."

"He left a few months after coming here and went to Neverland...he spent about 2 hundred years there according to what I saw from the Seer... He's been back for about 20 years... Still according to what the sear showed me." He explained.

"You knew he'd come back here... That's why you created the curse and had it bringing everyone here." She realised.

"Yes...I hope he'll forgive me... He's the only deal I've ever broken in my entire life and everything I've done ever since was so I could find him again and make up for it... All I want is a chance to tell him I love him." He said, standing up to look out the window.

Bella stood and went to put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry dad, I'm sure he'll forgive you, even if it takes some time. I'll even go with you to find him if you want. I'm sure I can try to talk some sense into him. You can ask Emma, I'm pretty good at convincing people." She smiled.

"Thank you... Now come on, it's almost one and you must be hungry. I'll cook you something." He offered.

"You can cook?"

"Of course. Don't you?" He asked her.

"Oh yes, I can cook. It's a good thing too because if it was up to Emma we'd live on take outs all the time." She chuckled.

"Well, today I'm cooking for you." He offered.

"I'd love that."

"Now I told you everything there was to know about me, it's time you returned the favor Isabella."

"Just Bella please... I don't like Isabella much..." She replied.

"Bella then... Bella...Belle... Like mother like daughter it would seem." he smiled as she sat at his kitchen counter and started to talk about her life with Emma, telling him everything she could think of.

When she was done, she asked him if he'd tell her more about her mother and so he did. The more he spoke and the more Bella understood how much like her mother she was and it pleased her. Even if she never met her mother, at least she'd have that. He even showed her the chipped cup he treasured so much and the story made her smile. It was a very sweet one.

When the big clock of the shop rang 5 PM, Bella jumped. She hadn't noticed that so much time had passed. They had been talking all day long and she hadn't been expecting this much time to have passed already.

"You have to go?" he asked her.

"I do... I have an advise column due back tomorrow and I need to finish it." She replied, standing up.

"Before you go, I have something else to confess to you... I feel it's important that you know..." He started.

"What is it dad?"

"There's a young woman in town, Ashley Boyd, she's Cinderella back in our world. She's pregnant and I have a contract with her so she'll give me her child. I don't need it of course. I did this only because according to what the seer showed me, Emma, the savior, would convince Ashley to keep her child and ask me to let her out of her contract... It was one way for her to owe me a favor..."

"Why would you need for Emma to owe you a favor?" Bella asked, confused.

"So she'd help me find Baelfire." he replied.

"Okay... I understand. Emma's really good at finding people... I won't tell her and when it happens I'll let her know that you'll probably agree to break the contract...just... be honest and tell her that in exchange for breaking the contract you want Emma to help you find someone later." Bella asked him.

"If you think it's best, I'll do as you wish." he agreed with a nod.

"Thank you... I'll go now... I need to finish this column on time if I want to be paid." Bella told him before hugging him and walking out of the shop.

Bella went directly to her new apartment and turned her lap top on before she started to work, happy about this wonderful day with her father. She hadn't been too happy about every part of his story, she really felt bad for Hook who had lost Milah but she also understood that he had been hurt and focused on finding Baelfire... You can't always control your actions or your emotions.

Around 11 pm, when Emma still wasn't back, Bella called her and Emma told her she had simply forgotten to call her. The coma patient had woken up and walked out of the hospital when nobody was looking and now they were in the woods, looking for him with the sheriff. She assured Bella that they didn't need her help and that she would be back soon.

Bella smiled. Henry's plan had work and she could guess that the wheels were turning in Emma's head. Making a mental note to have a talk with Henry the next day, Bella closed the book she was reading and had borrowed from her father and she went to bed, leaving some food out for Emma later.

.

The next morning, Emma told Bella how the coma patient was David Nolan and had lost his memories. He was apparently married but Emma found the entire story suspicious and felt bad for Mary-Margaret who obviously was attracted to the poor man.

"...And Graham offered me a job as his deputy." Emma finished.

"Wow, what a night you had! What did you tell him?" Bella asked her.

"I said I'd think about it. He expects an answer by tomorrow."

"Are you going to accept?"

"I don't know... It would definitely piss of Regina so that's a plus...and it would be nice to have roots... I'll think about it today. How was your day yesterday?"

"Great, everything went very well. We talked all day. Today I'll probably go and work on my next article in his shop, just to spend time with him." She replied.

"Okay. I have to do a load of laundry. Ruby told me that I could use the washing machines at the Bed and Breakfast. Do you have things you need cleaned?"

"I do, thank you." Bella replied before handing her sister the laundry she needed cleaned.

That day ended with Emma agreeing to help Gold finding the person he was looking for if he let Ashley Boyd off her contract and let her keep her baby. He didn't tell Emma who this person was or when he would need her but in the end, everyone was happy and Henry even got a confirmation from Emma that she wouldn't leave, even that she would take the job as Deputy of the handsome Sheriff.

"Regina won't like it at all... What did Graham say when you told him that?" Bella asked her.

"He confessed that he was having an affair with her and that he had a hard time breaking it off... It was weird... he said he couldn't feel anything when he was with her and that maybe hiring me would upset her so much she'd let him go." Emma replied.

"Is it the only reason he gave you the job then?" Bella asked.

"I asked him this actually and he assured me that he believed I would be in my element there. He wasn't lying, I could feel it."

"How do you feel about the whole _him and Regina_ thing?"

"I truly don't know... All I know is that he was saying the truth when he said he couldn't feel anything... Well it's his life..." Emma replied, trying to make it look like she didn't care when they both knew that she did.

.

Over the next few days, not much progress was make in the process of breaking the curse but Graham and Emma ended up kissing.

He had been invited in their apartment to eat dinner and watch a movie, along with Mary-Margaret and M. Gold. The good teacher had already left and he was about to leave also when he gathered his courage and kissed the young woman. If he was the one who initiated the kiss, Emma quickly got into it and started kissing him back, allowing herself to open up to someone who wasn't Bella.

Once the kiss was over, he stumbled back, shocked, his eyes wide open.

"I...I remember..." He said.

"Remember what?" Emma asked him, confused.

"She broke his curse..." Gold exclaimed.

"Like True Love's kiss?" Bella asked.

"No, not really. Emma is the product of True Love so technically it is True Love's kiss but it doesn't mean that what is between them is True Love." He explained.

"What?" Emma was shocked, surprised and not willing to believe.

"Regina still has my heart, she's still controlling me with it... I need to get it back!" he exclaimed, standing straighter, ready for a fight.

"Oh come on, don't tell me that you actually believe this story! Come on!" The doubtful young woman exclaimed.

"Emma, please believe me... I know what we'll do. Tomorrow we look for his heart and if by tomorrow night we can't show you his magical heart, then I'll stop trying to make you believe." Bella begged her sister, looking her in the eyes.

"Fine... How are you planing on doing this?" Emma asked, knowing that there was no point on arguing.

"Regina has to be keeping this in her vault... I know where it is. We could ask Henry to keep her busy and away from there. We'll break in her vault, find the heart and put it back in." Gold suggested.

"Can we even put it back in if there isn't magic around?" Bella asked worriedly.

"I can do it." Her father assured her.

.

The next morning, they explained everything to Henry who was very excited about this new mission for Operation Cobra. He immediately agreed to keep Regina busy and he even agreed to wear a bug so they could hear if she ever decided to come back earlier.

"Won't you need her keys though?" He asked them.

"Don't worry, I won't need keys, I know how to break in." Gold assured him.

They agreed to do it after school and Graham managed to hide from Regina the fact that he now remembered who he was.

After school, Henry managed to look into his mother's office for a while before leaving with her and he made sure to say in the bug that the heart wasn't in her office. He wanted to do everything he could and he wanted his mother to be proud of him.

At 5 pm, they all met in front of Regina's vault and Gold managed to break the lock quickly. Without any magic around, there wasn't much protection on it and it was rather easy. They quickly guessed that the stone grave needed to be pushed aside and did it before they walked down the stone stairs.

"It's here, I can feel it." Graham assured them.

"How will we know which one it it?" Bella asked as Emma and her looked all around.

"Don't worry, without any magic around, the only way a heart will shine will be if it's held either by the one who ripped it off or by the owner of the heart. He'll simply have to touch them all." Her father explained before they all started opening the boxes that were against the wall.

One by one, they opened them all and Emma was forced to believe everything was true when suddenly, one of them light up in Graham's hand.

"That's the one, I can feel it... It's like I'm free once more." He sighted with relief.

"Let's put it back in then before Regina busts our asses and sends us all in jail, or worst." Bella declared.

"I... It's true then... Everything?" Emma asked.

"Yes deary, everything is true." Mister Gold replied before he grabbed the heart and gently pushed it back in Graham's body.

"Thank you!" Graham told them all.

"Will she be able to take it again?" Graham asked Gold.

"Not while there is no magic around and after the curse is broken, before I bring magic back I'll warn you and right after I'll put a protection on you, this way she won't be able to get to it again." The Dark One promised, making the Huntsman realize just how much things had changed for the once evil man.

"Wait, before we leave shouldn't we look around a bit?" Bella asked.

"What do you mean Bell?" Emma asked her.

"Well, I mean, it's the Evil Queen's vault... Maybe there's something in here that we could use or that we could take before she uses it against us..." She explained.

"Usually I'd agree with you but Regina just dropped Henry off at her house before telling him she was going to her father's grave. We need to go before she arrives." Gold explained.

Indeed, he had a headphone in his ear so he could keep track on Regina.

They all hurried out of the vault and managed to leave before she arrived.

Graham invited them all for dinner at Granny's to celebrate their small victory and Emma believing.

"Shouldn't the curse be broken now that I believe in everything?" Emma asked.

"Believing isn't enough deary. You need to give someone the True Love's kiss." Gold explained.

"True Love? I need to fall in love?" Emma asked, knowing that this would be harder than she had expected.

"No, you need to kiss someone that you truly love, someone that will _never_ leave your life. Someone you will _never_ forget, _never_ betray..." He tried to explain.

"So if I kiss Bella now I'll break the curse?" Emma asked him.

"I'd pay to see that!" Graham joked.

"I'm afraid it can't be that easy. You've loved and trusted Bella from the beginning. It needs to be someone you've worked hard to welcome in your life. Think of it like a challenge, you need to work for it." He added.

"I guess it makes sense. If True Love was easy we'd all have it." Graham said as he sat down with beers for everyone.

"So I need to work hard to welcome in my life someone that will never leave it but it doesn't have to be someone I'm _in_ love with..." Emma summarized.

"Exactly." Gold nodded.

"It's good there isn't a time limit to this curse then." Bella muttered.

"Hey! At least I've been in love before, which is more than I can say about you." Emma protested with a teasing smile.

"Yeah well, it's not my fault if I simply never felt that much for anyone..."

"You've never been in love?" Her father asked her.

"No... I think that deep down I'm waiting for the perfect one... I've never even been kissed...that way I mean. I mean I did give kisses at a stand once for charity... One dollar a kiss, but it was just pecks on the lips..." Bella blushed.

"But she's been pretty popular with teenage boys in high school. At some point when we were teenagers we were sent for 3 summers in a row to camp in a town called Forks... Bella was miss popular there." Emma teased.

"Really? And nobody was to your taste?" Graham asked.

"Well, let's see... There was Mike Newton... Emma and I liked to call him my human Labrador... he was always following me, and his behavior reminded me of a faithful dog..." Bella explained, making everyone chuckle.

"Then there was Edward Cullen... She did have kind of a crush on him." Emma added.

"But I forced myself not to fall for him, he was too weird... He never went out when it was sunny, his eyes seemed to change colors and he was always lying... I felt that there was something dangerous about him and that if I got closer it would get in the way of something greater so I forced myself not to feel." Bella explained.

"Wise choice." Gold nodded.

"Yes, Bella always listened to her instincts... Even when it gets her a broken fist like it did when another of her admirer, Jacob Black, tried to kiss her." Emma chuckled at the memory.

"I remember that... He was a good friend and I told him repeatedly that I didn't feel anything more than friendship for him but he still tried to kiss me..." Bella said.

"He was convinced that once he kissed her she would be in love with him." Emma laughed.

"Yeah well, his lips weren't even on mine when I kneed him in the privates and punched his jaw... I broke my fist but he stayed away from me after that." Bella blushed at the thought.

"Well, a father is always happy to learn that his daughter can defend herself." Gold declared pridefully.

"To be fair, I don't know how I would have escaped a few of these boys if it wasn't for Emma... I remember one time... Mike and one of his friend Tyler, were trying to get me to agree to go with them to this dance... They were arguing and fighting, refusing to let me go until I chose one of them... Thankfully Emma arrived... She kicked their asses, well she threatened to and it was enough... '_It's all fun and games until one of you gets my foot up your ass_' she told them... Obviously they believed her because they ran faster than I had seen anyone run before..." Bella chuckled, making Emma blush for once.

"They were morons." Emma justified.

"So, was that it?" Graham asked.

"Oh no, far from it but they were the most...persistent ones... For those 3 summers Bella was a very popular girl... It's a wonder how she managed to keep her first kiss for herself." Emma explained.

"Well, it's not my fault... I want my first kiss to go to someone special... I'm glad I don't have to go back to that place, ever. Forks was litteraly my personnal hell on earth." Bella blushed.

"Well, who knows, maybe you'll meet your prince here." Graham said before he raised his glass to the people who had helped him find his heart again.

As they celebrated, they looked to the side and saw Mary-Margaret who seemed to be on a date with Doctor Whale. Emma frowned when they left together. If she really was her mother then she hoped that they weren't about to do what she thought they were but she decided to brush those thoughts aside. If the fairy tales were true then it meant that Love always found a way and just like Mary Margaret told her before, if two people are meant to be together, they found a way.

When they went back home, Emma and Graham agreed to give each other a chance and to try and go on an official date. They were mature enough that if it didn't work they could stay friends and if it worked out, he might end up being the one Emma broke the curse with.

* * *

**I hope you liked it. This was my way of integrating some other Twilight characters... What do you think?**

**Review?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Part 5_**

* * *

When Regina went in her vault that Wednesday, she had been thinking of suggesting to Graham, through his heart, that he wanted to fire Emma and that he needed to be with her, Regina, that he couldn't be without her but she found herself in front of an empty box. She was enraged and had absolutely no way of knowing who had taken it and where it was. All she knew was that Graham was still alive, meaning that whoever had stolen it hadn't crushed it and that it had been done sometimes between last Wednesday and today.

Her first thought went to Rumpelstiltskin but why would he involve himself in this? He didn't care about Graham or anyone else really. All he cared about was himself. Although she had to admit that he had changed since Emma and her sister came to town... Was this Isabella really his daughter? If she was, then who was the mother? She looked about Emma's age so it couldn't be Belle... Who else had he been with before the curse? Would he really betray his love of Belle? Why would he lie about this?

Deep down, the mayor knew that Emma had something to do with this missing heart and that Graham probably had his heart back in his chest. She had never been angrier in her life and she needed to find a way to get her revenge on the blond woman. First she took Henry's attention and Love away from her and now she took Graham too?

Emma needed to go.

Sadly, there wasn't any magic around for her to get her revenge but she already knew how to hurt the woman. She could forbid Henry from seeing her and she could hurt her loved ones.

If Bella was untouchable because Gold asked her to leave her alone (and added his magical '_please_' to it), Regina couldn't use her but she knew that she could use other people. Snow White (Mary-Margaret) would be perfect for this. She would find a way to use her old enemy in order to hurt her new enemy. There was no way she was losing, not now, not when she was so sure that victory had been hers and that this was finally her happy ending. She wouldn't let them ruin everything.

.

Emma and Bella had been in town for a few weeks now and in this short time they had made a place for themselves.

While Bella had made a lot of friends and spent a lot of time with her father and the few good friends she had made, Emma and Graham were now a couple. They had kissed, and more but the curse hadn't been broken. They didn't speak about it. Graham didn't seem offended by that fact. He figured that Emma simply had to work harder to let him in some more, that she needed to be more open with him but they brushed it off. It would happen when it was needed.

Of course Gold had told Bella the truth about it. The curse wouldn't break with Emma kissing anyone, even if it was True Love. It would break once she completely accepts who she is, the savior but also Henry's real mother. When this happened, the curse would be broken for good. Bella had wanted to tell Emma but her father explained to her that she couldn't because Emma had to figure it out on her own. He insisted that the journey was just as important as the destination and Bella had to agree. It was a lesson that could be learned from a lot of the books she had read.

Emma was now very close to her mother, who didn't remember who she was and the blond savior was doing her best to bring her parents back together. David had just announced to Katherine the previous day that he didn't love her and wanted to break things off so he could be with Mary-Margaret and if the blond woman had accepted it, feeling deep down that they didn't love each others, Regina made sure to spread rumors all over town to ruin the good teacher's reputation.

Mary-Margaret was hurt of course but they all stayed united around her, to show her support and she managed to go through it one day at the time. The people who mattered knew not to listen to the rumors and Emma was happy to see that Regina had lost once more.

.

Bella had spent the last week following Regina everywhere as discreetly as possible, hoping to find out where her mother was hidden but she hadn't managed to find anything helpful.

"It's possible that she simply doesn't go to visit her often. I just need to follow her some more." Bella assured her father, who was now a complete part of Operation Cobra and had been as honest as possible with Emma and his daughter.

"You're going to end up killing yourself if you keep going like that..." Emma told her.

"You need some rest." Gold added, concerned for his daughter.

She was really pale, a signe that she hadn't been eating or resting properly for the past few days.

"I could put a tracking device on her or something..." Henry suggested.

He had been forbidden to see Emma by his evil queen mother but he managed to sneak out sometimes, when his mother was busy at work or when school activities gave him an excuse.

"It would have to be something she always has with her..." Gold added thoughtfully.

"Her keys maybe?" Bella suggested.

"No, I think her cell phone would be best. She always has it with her, even when she sleeps. And when she showers her cell phone is in the room with her. I think it's the best option." Graham said, grabbing a donut from the box he had brought.

"Good idea... Now we have to think of the best way to do it..." Emma nodded.

"I can do it. Tonight at dinner while she's in the kitchen I'll grab her cell phone... She always leaves it on the table when she goes in the kitchen during dinner to get something." Henry explained.

"I'll show you how to put it in then." Graham nodded.

After he was shown what to do, Henry knew that he had to go if he didn't want to be punished by his mother so he ran back home with the device, ready to do his part.

.

The next day, it was much easier for them to know where Regina was at every moment and so Bella was able to concentrate on her next article. She had taken a habit to work on her articles in her father's shop so she could spend some time with him and he enjoyed those quiet moments with her greatly. They got to know each other and he felt much happier. She helped him get over all of his fears and he knewnow that he would managed to survive without magic. He would be able to be honest with Belle and Baelfire when he saw then again, all thanks to Bella, her patience and her kind heart.

It was the middle of the afternoon that day when Emma walked in the shop, an old compass in her hands.

"I think I just met Hansel and Gretel. Regina wants us to drive them to Boston tonight to put them in the system but I have to at least try to find their father... If what Henry says is true and nobody can leave town then he is still around and the curse simply makes him forget that he has children..." Emma explained.

"I remember this compass... I have the man's name and address here somewhere. He works in the garage." Gold replied before he opened his old registry and told Emma what she needed to know.

"Thanks. I'll try and get them back together..." Emma nodded.

"Do you need help?" Bella asked her.

"No, don't worry, it's fine. Henry already called to say he'll join me for a while. He managed to convince Regina that he had to work on an after school project with a friend. She believed him." Emma explained.

"Good luck then." Bella nodded.

.

It hadn't been easy but Emma managed to reunite the twins with their father and now she was with Bella and Henry in her apartment. Regina had called Henry to say that she had a late council meeting but they knew that she was having "a good time" with Doctor Whale at Granny's Bed and Breakfast. So now they were watching a movie and eating pizza when Henry asked:

"So, I was wondering... I have a father right?"

"Of course you do." Emma replied, hoping the conversation wouldn't go where she thought Henry would take it.

"Do you mind telling me about him? I'd like to know who he is..." Henry asked him.

"Oh...Hum... When I was 18 and your aunt Bella got a scholarship in college, the only job I could find was being a waitress in a small dinner and he was a fire man, always working late nights..."

Bella listened disapprovingly as her sister lied to her son, telling him that his father was dead. When she was done, Henry nodded and went back to watching his movie.

"Emma, you can't lie to him. You _have_ to tell him the truth! You better than anyone know that one way or another lies are always discovered... You have to tell him the truth..." Bella told her, looking her in the eyes, knowing her point would get across faster this way.

"I can't Bella... I can't tell him that his father was a thief who broke my heart..."

"Yes, you can Emma. Trust me. I know it hurts but he _needs_ to know. You need to think of him here, not of your pain." Bella insisted and Emma nodded.

"Henry, come here kid... I... I lied to you, about your father..." She started.

"Why?" Henry asked, looking saddened.

"Because... You have to understand... It hurts to even think of him and I didn't want you to know the truth... It all started in Portland when I tried to steal a car... The yellow bug... Don't worry, it's legal now. He was 24...he had already stolen the car and was sleeping in the back seat... His name is Neal Cassidy and we hit it off from there. It was an immediate connection." She explained.

"Like love at first sight?" Henry asked her.

Bella couldn't help but notice the hope on her nephew's face and she knew that the wheels were turning. He was thinking about something and she could guess True Love was all over his thoughts rieght now.

"Maybe... I didn't really believe in it by then but I think so, yes... We started moving around together, stealing what we needed to survive when we didn't have enough money... I'm not proud of it... Anyway, we had decided to start new together and we had picked Tallahassee, in Florida, to do it. But then he came back from the post office with a wanted poster... He had stolen watches in Phoenix and they were looking for him. I suggested we went to get the watches so we could sell them and use the money to start a new life together, with new identities... I went to get them and I waited for him at the place we agreed but he never showed... The cops came and arrested me, saying that someone had called and told them where to look and where I would be... I got 11 months and found out I was pregnant with you... I... He broke my heart... It hurt even to think of him and I didn't want you to know that your father was such a bad guy Henry... I'm sorry..." Emma finished and she had tears in her eyes.

"It's okay, I understand... Do... Do you have anything of his? You know, to remember him by." He asked her.

"I... Well, he's the one who sent me the keys of the car after I went to jail along with legal papers... The Swan I wear as a necklace around the neck was a key chain he got for me... I wear it as a reminder not to trust anyone again." Emma admitted and it was obvious that it was painful for her to say.

Bella joined her sister and hugged her.

"If he hadn't betrayed you, would you have kept me?" Henry asked his mother.

"I think so, yes... When we talked about Tallahassee, we talked about the life we would have, about children... We had found a big dream catcher and we wanted to hang it above our child's bed when we had one... But then I was in jail and I didn't think I could do it, be a mother..."

"It's okay, I understand... Do you still love him?" He asked her.

"I think so... I think it's why it hurts so much...He was my first love and I think I'll always love him... Deep down I still love him and I'm still mad at him for leaving me, for betraying me the way he did... I would even have forgiven him if he had come to look for me when I got out of jail..." Emma confessed.

"Well, he would have had to cross me first and I would have tested those self defense skills before letting him talk to you." Bella replied, making Emma and Henry chuckle.

"Do I look like him?" Henry asked and the two women knew that he needed to have some kind of link with his father.

"A bit, yes... When I first saw you it's why I ran in the bathroom... His face immediately came up to mind and I couldn't deal with it..." Emma added.

They talked some more and after 30 more minutes, Emma had to drop Henry off before Regina came home.

"I... Be careful Henry... Don't let her catch you." Emma said as he left his car.

She had been about to say "_I Love you_" but it was too hard for her to say it. She wasn't ready yet but maybe soon. Already she couldn't imagine her life without Henry in it. She wanted more time with him, she wanted him to be hers again.

.

Regina was furious that Katherine had let her down like this.

Not only had she let David go and accepted the divorce but she had fallen for the school's gym teacher. Now David and Mary-Margaret were happy together and she was alone once more to contemplate her failure. She needed to find a way to break the happy couple up, to punish them like they deserve.

The worst part of it all was that Henry didn't speak to her anymore, he stayed with her because he had to but she had lost him and she knew that he didn't love her anymore. She even came to doubt he had ever really loved her. What was wrong with her?

She knew that he found ways to sneak around to spend time with Emma, not caring about what she said and she was now powerless. How could she fix this? She had tried to get Emma out of town and even arrested but there was nothing she could do... If she didn't take actions soon her curse would be broken and she would be in serious trouble.

Maybe she could get Rumpelstiltskin to help her after all, she did have something he wanted. Smirking, she left her office and went in her car, driving to the hospital where she entered her private code to enter the basement nobody knew about except for the few people she had placed there. When she reached the reception desk, she gave the receptionist a single red rose and asked:

"Has anyone been to see her?"

"No, nobody ever comes here." The woman replied in an emotionless voice.

"Good, let's hope it stays that way." Regina smirked before she walked in the long corridor, passing a few doors before she stopped in front of the right one.

She opened the small window and watched happily as Belle sat in a dark corner. Just like everyone else she was under the curse and didn't remember anything but the fact that she had been in this dark cell for so long made it that she simply had no memories. Not of her past life in the Enchanted Forest, not of this one. She was simply a blank page.

Seeing Belle in this state reminded Regina that she still had the power, that she could control the Dark One with this advantage. If the curse ever broke, she would simply use her prisoner to control what Gold did and she would be at the top again.

.

Bella was in her father's shop and since he was on the phone, she was taking care of Marco who wanted to buy an old clock. Her father came back inside just as Marco had paid.

"Thank you... I'm really happy for you M. Gold, we all are. Children are a blessing. What I wouldn't give for one...even now..." he sighted.

"It's never too late, you never know what destiny has in store for you Marco." Bella smiled kindly.

"I hope you're right. Have a good day." Marco said before he left.

"Thank you for minding the store Bella." Gold told her.

"It's no problem. I've spent enough time in here over the past few weeks to know how things work." She smiled.

"You know, if there's ever anything in here that you like, all you have to do is ask." He said.

"Thank you... I'm not used to so much kindness... It's been only Emma and I for so long, I still need to get used to it I think." she replied with a smile as she turned on her computer.

Over the past few weeks, he had installed a bedroom for her in his house and she stayed over there about twice a week, sharing her time between Emma and him. she also spent one afternoon a week with Henry. Her father had asked Regina with his magical please and so Bella was able to get to know the boy she considered her godson. he, too, considered her his godmother.

"I understand. Nothing interests you yet?" He asked her.

"Nah, except if those wands are really magical ones and can change a pumpkin into a cool car for me." She chuckled.

"Maybe when Magic is brought back. But if you want a new car I have more than enough to buy you one." He smiled with amusement.

"Nah, I don't really need it here. Although if the magical talking wardrobe from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast exists, I'd love to have it." Bella smiled kindly.

"I'll look into it." He chuckled.

She looked back to her computer and searched for Regina and exclaimed:

"Regina is at the hospital!"

"Let's look at the surveillance cameras."

Indeed, he had paid someone to give him access to surveillance cameras all over the town and all he had to do was press a few buttons on his own computer to see everything. he even had access to videos up to a week old. They looked for a while until they saw Regina entered the hall. Then they followed her through different cameras until they saw her in front of a door they hadn't noticed before and for which they needed a code. Curiously, they watched all the videos for this door and only one other person ever went through it. The woman came inside in the morning and left in the evening but nobody else ever did. No doctor or nurse, not even a janitor.

"Tomorrow morning we'll follow her and watch what code she enters, then we'll go look inside." Bella decided.

"It could be dangerous Bella, I don't want you to risk it... We'll call Emma and Graham. We might need their authority for this." He added.

"You're right, safe is always best." She smiled.

Then Bella left her father's shop to go to the station where she told the sheriff and his deputy what they had found out.

"Of course we'll check it out. If your mother is really in there we need to let her out." Emma agreed.

"We could even go right now." Graham added.

Bella then called her father who told them that Regina was back in her house so they all agreed to meet in front of the hospital.

As they left the station, they crossed a newcomer on a motorcycle.

"I thought nobody could come here..." Emma stated.

"Maybe he's from our land... Maybe he's from another one, who knows really... Or maybe he simply found this town by luck." Graham suggested, shrugging his shoulders, they didn't have time to worry about it right now.

"Let's go. We'll worry about the dark and mysterious stranger later." Bella insisted.

They all went in the police car and soon, they were in front of the locked room.

Thankfully, Emma knew this kind of security system and she had on override code that she used in her previous job. The four of them went down and when the woman started to protest, trying to reach for the phone, Emma put her in cuffs while Graham grabbed the keys and they started looking through the windows on the doors.

Every single room was empty except for the last one where a woman was sitting in a corner. Graham opened the door while Gold and Bella held each other tightly. They knew that she wouldn't recognize them and that they couldn't tell her the truth yet but they were eager to find out if she was in good health or not. It was all that mattered.

Belle didn't know anything, not even her name and she seemed to be a little weak so they carried her upstairs and had Doctor Whale looking at her while Graham and Emma arrested the receptionist and tried to get her to say who was behind this. Nobody else had even gone through this door and the woman refused to say anything.

"We know Regina is behind this, all you have to do is say it so she can finally be punished for what she did." Emma told the woman.

They hadn't found any record for Belle or this ward and nobody knew that she was there except for the receptionist. Obviously it wasn't legal, even in their world. Regina had been so sure that she wouldn't be found out that she hadn't even faked psychological records or anything that would justify Belle's presence in this cell.

.

The next day, the entire town was speaking of the discovery that was made at the hospital. They found out that Belle's cursed name was Lacey and she was to remain at the hospital for a few days, until she felt better. After that, they would have to find her father or to convince her to stay with Gold or Bella and Emma.

The receptionist had finally decided to confess to Regina's involvement so she could avoid jail time and everyone now knew that she was responsible. Of course, it was the word of one person against Regina's since no proof had been found but everyone knew who really was Regina now, or at least what she was capable of.

The mayor was more upset than she had ever been and she decided to try and take actions in justice to forbid Emma to even be in the same room as Henry. Everyone thought that she was a bad person now but she thought that everything would be fixed if Emma was forbidden by the law to see Henry.

She could feel that the last battle was about to begin and there was no way she was losing it.

.

August entered the town's dinner and tried not to react when he saw his father. He didn't say anything to him but simply sat down at a table and when Ruby came to get his order and flirted with him, he flirted back, until Emma came in that is.

He approached her in a flirty manner, figuring it would be the best way to get informations but she clearly wasn't interested and he learned that she was dating the Huntsman.

August considered insisting for a moment but he glanced at his father and he couldn't help it, he went to introduce himself and Marco invited him to work with him. He kenw he should have refused and concentrated on his task to get Emma to believe and break the curse but he missed his father and decided to listen to his own desires, once more.

* * *

**So, What did you think?**

**Don't forget to review please, I love reading your reviews!**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Part 6_**

* * *

Bella had convinced her father to let her mother go home with her own father until the curse was broken, to have faith in their love and she had been right because in her second day out of the hospital, Belle/Lacey brought M. Gold a pie to thank him for helping find her and for getting her free from her undeserved cell. They had gone out for dinner or lunch a few times since and once Bella even joined them.

That day, they were walking together, father and daughter, as they did so often lately, heading to meet Emma when Regina's little reporting slave caught up to them.

"Mister Gold, please, a word for the Daily Mirror." Sidney Glass asked as he stood in front of them, blocking their way.

"Very well, I'm feeling generous today. _Anthropomorphic_, all yours Mister Glass." Gold replied with an amused smile as Bella chuckled.

Who knew the evil Dark One had such a sense of humor?

"Please, it's about Regina... She needs..." But Gold cut him off.

"I don't care what Regina needs. Now leave before I ruin your life more than she already did." Gold glared and the reporter left, his head hung low.

Bella and her father were meeting Graham and Emma in front of Granny's for dinner but when they arrived Regina was standing in front of them with Henry in a tight grip. It looked like the entire town was watching them and the frown on the boy's face showed that he was in pain.

"It's written right here Miss Swan, you're not allow near my son ever again. You've lost." Regina smirked triumphantly.

"I don't care if you've managed to bully someone into giving you what you want Regina, Henry is **my** son and I will always fight for him." Emma replied.

"You gave up on every right you had to him when you abandoned him. He's _mine_ now. You've lost. It's time for you to leave my town." Regina smirked as she kept her tight hold on the young boy who was wincing.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Forget it. I will not make the same mistake again. Henry is my son and I will not let you keep him in this cage. Can't you see he's not happy with you? You spend so much time making him sound like he's crazy to everyone that you don't even know him anymore." Emma contested.

"You have no choice Miss Swan, you have to stay away from him or Graham will have to throw you in jail. If he doesn't then he'll have to go in jail too. It's as simple as that." Regina smirked, feeling like the winner of a big and difficult race.

Bella looked around as she walked closer to her sister, showing her open support.

Mary-Margaret and David were here, along with her own mother. The stranger that came on his motorcycle and had later introduced himself as August to Emma was present too and he looked proud of the savior. Leroy and several of the nuns were there, along with Doctor Hopper, Marco and Ruby... Well, basically everyone she had met so far was around, watching and silently rooting for Emma.

"You're so Evil I hate you!" Henry yelled at Regina, pulling away from her grasp so he could run into Emma's open arms.

Emma hugged her son tightly and told him:

"I love you Henry and I **will** fight for you. Don't worry, _we_ will find a way. She can't keep us apart Honey. I **am** your mother and **always** will be."

After those words, Emma kissed her son's forehead like only a loving mother knew how to kiss and suddenly, it was like a wave of magic went all over the town, giving them all instantly their memories back.

"The curse... She just broke it didn't she?" Bella asked her father.

"Yes, I believe she did." He replied.

"No!" Regina cursed as she looked all around her.

"If I were you your Majesty, I'd find a good place to hide before everyone comes back to their senses and catch you." The Blue fairy told her with a satisfied smile.

Suddenly, everyone was hugging everyone and while Bella congratulated Emma and was officially introduced to Snow White and Prince Charming, Rumpelstiltskin was heavily kissed by Belle who jumped in his arms and strangled him with a hug.

.

August looked around and was happy to see that the curse was broken without him having to work too much for it but then, why was his right leg still wooden? And why was he still feeling the wood spreading on his hip? It dawned on him that maybe he needed Emma to want it to come back to what it was for it to be. Maybe the fact that he had wanted his curse broken for selfish reasons was why he was still turning into wood. Or maybe because he went between Emma and Neal...

With one last look at his father, who was hugging a friend of his, he turned around and walked back to his room.

He had introduced himself to the two saviors and spent some time with them but not enough. He hadn't told them the truth about who he was, even after it was obvious that Emma believed. He had been too bad of a boy and didn't deserve to be real again, he needed to fix it. He needed to find redemption, or salvation.

The only one he had told he was Pinocchio was to Henry, right after he was assured that Emma believed. The young boy had assured him that his mother was handling everything and that she had support so August went back to spending time with Marco, his father.

.

Regina ran back to her house and locked herself up, enraged. She had lost. Where was _her_ happy ending now? Why didn't she get it? What was she going to do now?

She decided to disguise herself and go back to town. Maybe she'd find a solution to her problem then. She put a knife in her pocket and decided to use it to stab Emma if she couldn't find another way out of her problems.

.

"Belle, sweetheart, there's someone I need to talk to you about..." Rumpelstiltskin told her.

"What is it?"

He had walked with her away from the crowd and they were near a bench. He asked her to sit down and told her the story of the Rainbow fairy and the existence of their daughter. It took him a while but he told her the entire story, knowing it would be hard to believe but that she would believe because he was the one telling her.

"Her name is Isabella Swan. She likes to be called Bella. She's with Emma and Henry right now... She figured things would be easier for you when you got your memory back if we didn't crowd you with too much information so she stayed away for a bit." He explained.

"She's... Really? I... Let's go and see her then." Belle smiled happily.

It was a lot to take in but she remembered spending time with Bella once or twice when she was Lacey and she felt really close to the girl that was, apparently, her daughter.

They had walked a bit away from the celebration that was taking place and when they arrived back in front of Granny's, Bella turned around and ran up to them.

"I told her everything." Gold informed his daughter.

"I... It's nice to meet you." Bella told her mother with a soft blush on her cheeks.

Belle smiled, took her in her arms and hugged her.

"Likewise."

"Looks like we're family now." David told Gold as he came to shake his hand, showing to the town that he trusted the Dark One.

"I guess you could see it like this, yes." He replied with a smile.

"Curse or no curse, Bella and I are sisters, that won't change for anything" Emma declared as she hugged Henry with one arm and her mother with the other one.

All over town, people were celebrating, looking for their lost loved ones but mostly, they were in Granny's dinner, trying to figure out what to do with Regina.

"Well, there is no magic so we can lock her up in a cell, can't we?" Henry asked.

"I'm afraid we'll have to bring back magic Henry..." Gold sighted.

"Why? You don't need it Rumpel, I'll help you." Belle asked.

"I need it to leave town and find my son, Baelfire... We'll also need magic if we want to go back to our land some day... But I guess we don't need it right away... We can always lock her up and look for a way to deal with her without magic and bring it back later..." Gold replied.

"How are you even going to bring back magic?" Snow asked him.

"Back when you were under the sleeping curse, I asked Charming to hide a little something for me..." Gold started.

"The golden egg...in the dragon." David nodded.

"Yes, we need to get it back and pour it in the well." Gold explained.

"How are we even going to find a dragon here? I've never seen one..." Henry exclaimed.

"It's hidden under the library, in the basement. I knew that Regina wouldn't be able to resist bringing her old _'friend'_ here." He replied.

"Well, the library is closed for now so all we have to do is to make sure that nobody gets in." David nodded.

"Leroy and the other dwarfs went to investigate what happens when someone crosses the line, they'll guard the library when they come back." Snow informed them as she came back to their group.

.

Regina had gotten in the dinner behind a group and positioned herself behind Gold and the Charming's, listening to him tell them how he would bring back magic. Smirking, she turned around and left, happy that nobody had noticed her and she went to the library along with a flame thrower, a couple of guns and a sword.

Facing her old friend as a dragon wasn't an easy task and it took a lot out of her but she managed to get the egg, even if she ended up with lots of burns and some pain. She made her way out of the place and once in the library, she opened the eggs, took the potion out of it and threw it on the floor. Then she drove to the well and the town's clock rung midnight when she poured the potion in the old well.

Suddenly, a dark purple smoke rose out of it and took over the entire town. Smiling, she went back to her vault. There, she took the time to heal herself and to get some sleep. The next morning she'd be able to dispose of her enemies and she'd finally have her happy ending.

.

Around eleven pm, the dwarfs came back in town yelling that they had terrible news. Apparently, when someone crossed the town line, he could only remember who his cursed self was. They had discovered it by pushing Sneezy over the line and now the dwarf only remembered being M. Clark.

"We'll just have to make some signs and put them on the town's limit. Until then I'll patrol the line to make sure nobody crosses it." Graham decided.

"Don't worry dad, we'll find a solution, I know it. You'll be able to cross the line and we will find Baelfire." Bella told her father who had suddenly paled.

"I hope so Bella, I hope so." he replied, hugging his daughter and Belle who were comforting him.

"We'll do anything we can so you can find you son, don't worry. We're family now." Snow assured him and with all this support he managed to feel better.

When midnight rang, Emma decided that it was time for Henry to go to bed and that he would now live with her, if he wanted. Of course he agreed and he went in his mother's place, knowing he would have to get some of his clothes from his old house the next day.

Everyone was in front of the apartment building, saying goodnight when the dark purple smoke came, taking over everything.

"What was that?" Henry asked, slightly scared.

"Magic, I can feel it... It's how I was going to bring it back... I can feel my powers again..." Rumpelstiltskin explained.

"But who did this?" Belle asked.

"It has to have been Regina." Snow sighted.

"How could she have known?" Emma asked.

"She's Evil, she had spies everywhere... Maybe she has a bug at Granny's or something..." Henry explained.

"It complicates things..." David said.

"If she went to get the egg by herself she'll need some rest so I think we're safe until the morning. We should get some rest too. I'll use my powers to create signs all around the town line to warn people not to cross it if they don't want to forget everything." Gold suggested.

"Thanks." Graham nodded.

"She's going to try and take me back..." Henry whispered, scared.

"Don't worry kid, I won't let her." Emma comforted him.

"Neither will I. We'll keep you safe Henry." Bella added.

After some discussion, they decided to all stay in the same place. Gold used his magic to bring Henry's clothes in Snow's apartment and then he brought some clothes for him and Belle. Then Emma went to sleep with her son in her parents apartment while Belle and Gold slept in the same place as their daughter. They all figured that being close to each other would be for the best until they had dealt with Regina.

Graham had been nervous when the curse was broken and he found himself face to face with Emma's father. He was afraid that the prince wouldn't accept or approve of him but then nothing was said about his being with Emma and he could breath again. Apparently they weren't against it and he was glad because Emma made him very happy.

.

The next morning, while everyone was busy trying to find a way to deal with her and reuniting with their loved ones, Regina had a plan in place. She had a hard time using magic in this world but there was things she could still do. She decided to summon a wraith and mark Bella. It would be easy and her dying would hurt not only Emma but also Gold. With some luck it would even kill Emma or Snow just for the fun of it.

She summoned the beast and quickly went in town. She spotted Bella with her parents and the Charming's. They were all at Granny's and she entered through the back door, making sure that nobody could see her. Using some magic, she managed to have Henry spill his hot chocolate on Bella who smiled, saying it was nothing, and headed to the bathroom to clean herself up. There, Regina pushed her against the wall and tried to put the medallion against the girl's skin to mark her but Bella fought her off until her father arrived, having felt the magic being used.

He was followed by the entire group and pushed Regina away, standing bravely in front of his daughter. Regina acted quickly and marked him before he used his powers to knock her out.

They were all in a tight space and it was hard to move around, making it hard for Gold to protect himself but also hard for regina to run away.

"What is this thing she mark you with?" Belle asked after making sure that her daughter was doing fine.

If Bella had a small bump in the back of her head from the hard push, she was fine and mostly worried for her father. She didn't care about the headache, her clumsiness had gotten her much worst.

"She summoned a wraith...a soul sucker..." Gold explained, shocked.

"How do we kill it?" Snow asked.

"We can't, it always regenerates. It can't be killed." He replied.

"There has to be a way to get rid of it." David insisted.

"We have until tonight to find a way... He never comes out during the day, especially if it's sunny." Gold explained.

"Can't we use the Mad-hatter's hat to send it somewhere else?" Henry asked as they all made their way out of the dinner with Regina to lock her up in the jail cell that Gold spelled to be able to keep her inside, even if she used her powers.

"Is he even here?" Emma asked.

"Well, Henry is right, he's in the book and every person in this book is in town." Bella added.

"I know that in the book the Queen had stolen his portal-hat... It's probably in her vault..." Henry said.

"Let's go." Belle insisted, not willing to lose her Love after so little time together.

"Henry, I want you to stay safe. I don't want you stuck in the cross fire..." Emma told her son with concern.

"I'll keep an eye on him here." Graham suggested.

He needed to stay around town anyway to patrol and make sure everyone was alright.

"Thank you." Emma nodded before she kissed them both and followed everyone out and to the vault.

"Dad, can you use the hat?" Bella asked him.

"No, but I know where to find Jefferson... Your mother and I will go and find him while you go with them and find the hat. We all meet at the town's hall." He replied.

"Okay." Bella nodded and hugged both of her parents tightly before she followed her sister and best friend.

.

Convincing Jefferson to help wasn't easy but when Gold promised him to let him keep the hat when it was done, he agreed. He figured that going with his daughter in another world would be the best solution to start over, he didn't want to seek her out before he could give her a new world and the promise of a much better life.

After breaking into the vault, they looked around for a while and ended up finding the hat, hidden behind several other boxes.

"There are a lot of dangerous things in here, we'll have to post a guard in front of it to make sure nobody comes in." David noted as they ran back to the meeting point where Gold, Belle and Jefferson were waiting for them.

It was only the afternoon but the sky was dark and the commotion they heard was clear: the wraith was coming their way, quickly.

They rushed inside and prepared themselves to fight it while Jefferson tried to make the hat work. Magic worked differently in this world and he needed to get used to it before he opened it.

David, Belle and Snow had torches made out of broomsticks, Gold was throwing fire balls at the things and Emma and Bella were protecting Jefferson. Suddenly, the portal opened and Jefferson got away from it so he wasn't sucked inside. The wraith was coming closer so Bella grabbed Emma's hand and tried to get her out of the way but the monster grabbed her ankle as he fell in the portal.

It was like time stopped for a second and they all watched Bella and Emma falling through the portal. Snow, who was the closest, yelled:

"I'm not loosing her again." and jumped through the portal after her daughter.

"Neither am I!" Belle, David and Gold yelled.

Gold ran closer the fastest he could with his bad leg, planning on using his powers to drag them all back out but he wasn't fast enough. David, who was the closest of the three jumped after Snow but the portal closed right as he neared it and the prince ended up crashing on the floor.

"No! Bella!" Belle yelled, crying.

She had barely met her daughter and had gotten so little time with her. She couldn't lose her now, it was too much to handle and if Rumpel hadn't been present, she would have lost it.

"Open it again!" Gold demanded of Jefferson.

"I can't, he broke the hat. Without it I can't open a portal!" Jefferson replied.

"Where did you send them?" David asked.

"Back to the Enchanted Forest." The Mad-hatter replied.

"Can't you fix it Rumpel?" Belle asked him.

"I'm afraid not... Even I am not powerful enough to create a portal this powerful..." He replied, despair in his tone.

"Don't worry, they'll survive this and we'll get them back, I know it." David said.

"He's right Rumpel, we'll get our daughter back, we have to believe in it." Belle said.

"If the dwarfs go back in the mine...maybe the magic brought back the diamonds that they use to make fairy dust and then we can fix the hat..." David suggested.

"You're right... let's go." Gold replied, grabbing the hat.

While David told Graham and Henry what had happened, promising his grandson that they would see them again, Blue promised Gold that fairy dust would be able to fix the hat. The dwarfs, lead by Leroy, had already gone to try working in the mines, thinking that the fairy dust would give Sneezy his memory back.

From her cell, Regina had heard what David told Henry and she laughed. The young boy turned to her, glaring and yelled:

"It's all your fault. I hate you and I hope I never see you ever again. The wraith should have taken **your** soul. It's all your fault!"

"Don't say that Henry, I'm your mother. I love you." Regina told him.

"You're lying, you always lie. I don't want you in my life anymore. I hope you stay in jail for the rest of your life." Henry yelled at her before he buried his face in his grandfather's chest, crying big tears.

.

In the Enchanted Forest, Snow, Emma and Bella woke up to find they were tied up and that two women were glaring at them.

"Where are we?" Bella asked.

"Back home..." Snow whispered.

"We need to find our way back to Storybrook, we can't leave Henry alone, who knows what Regina will do next..." Emma whispered back.

"We will, don't worry." Snow reassured her.

* * *

**I hope you liked this one too.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! **

**Most of you have guessed who Bella will be with, even if it won't be easy for her. Who do you think Mulan will love? Should Cora find a way to free her daughter?**

**Review please,**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Part 7_**

* * *

Since the three strangely dressed women were responsible for bringing to their world the monster who killed Prince Philippe, Mulan and Aurora had decided to tie them up and were now bringing them back to their camp. There, their leader Lancelot would decide on what the next step should be.

.

Belle and Gold were both sad about the loss of their daughter but Belle felt especially bad because she hadn't had much time to get to know her.

"She was curious about you, she asked me to tell her everything... I showed her your _chipped cup_ and the story made her smile... Just like you she loves books and she managed to get me to open up like I never did before... I think she gave me the courage to be honest with people, like you wanted me to back when you left..." Gold told her.

She had asked to learn as much as possible about her daughter and he was trying to be as honest as possible.

"Will you tell me what you told her?" She asked.

"Of course..."

They spent the next few hours talking. Rumpel told her about his son and wanting him back, he told her everything he had told Bella and when he was done, they spent time talking about the time he spent with Bella.

What he didn't tell her, and hadn't told Bella either, was that there was a prophecy that foretold the boy who reunited him with his son would be his undoing. He didn't want to worry them. All he wanted was a chance to make things right with everyone, including his son before his time came.

Belle had gone to find her father in the morning but had gotten in an argument with him when he tried to get her to stay away from her Love. He even tried to get her to cross the town line. Thankfully they found her in time and now the young woman refused to even see her father and had definitively moved in with Rumpelstiltskin. She had a very pretty bedroom waiting for her and she knew that it was his way of telling her they would progress at her pace. He didn't want to rush her, even if they already had a daughter.

.

August was completely wooden now and since Emma and Bella were both out of town, he knew that they wouldn't be able to help him. Blue wouldn't be able to do anything either. He had been warned. Rainbow told him that it would be hard to resist all the temptations of the world but he had ignored it... To make things worst, when he got to town he spent some time with his father without trying to help Emma and Bella in their tasks...

He had failed them all and now he was paying the price. He should have come forward sooner, he should have been more honest with everyone, he shouldn't have broken Neal and Emma up... Now he had to pay the price. He hadn't been Brave, truthful and unselfish...

He had to think of a way to change this, until then, he would stay in the old trailer he had found in the woods. He couldn't let anybody see him like this. Before he left town, in the middle of the night, he wrote a letter for his father and he left it on his door.

_"Papa,_

_I'm sorry but I have failed you. I didn't guide Emma like I should have. As it turns out, I'm not that good at resisting all the temptations this world has and I haven't really been a good boy. _

_I want to come back to you when you can be proud of being my father so I'll try to find a way to erase my sins. I need to find my redemption, my forgiveness._

_Please, don't be too mad at me and be happy._

_I just can't let you see me like this._

_I love you and will always be your little boy,_

_Pinocchio (August W. Booth)"_

He knew that Marco would find it in the morning on his way to work and with one last look at his father's house, he turned and walked to the woods.

.

The wraith had done a lot of damages in town and now that Regina was locked up, the town needed to elect a new mayor in order to get itself back on tracks. Everyone met in the town hall and they ended up asking David to step in as Mayor. He agreed because as a Prince, it was his duty to lead them all, at least until his wife Snow came back and took her rightful place at the top. He also didn't want to give King George the opportunity to take power again, who knew what he would do with it.

"So, what is the first step of Operation Scorpion?" Henry asked David as they ate breakfast together on the 2nd day after the girls had disappeared.

"What's Operation Scorpion?" David asked Henry, confused.

"The Operation to get Emma, Mary-Margaret and Bella back home safely of course!" The boy exclaimed, making his grand-father smile.

"Of course... Well, we can't really do anything until we have fairy dust but I was thinking of going to see if M. Gold had found some way to communicate with them, to send them a message..." David explained.

"Good idea, let's go." Henry declared as he stood and put his coat on, rushing out the door as soon as he could.

"Wait Henry, you have to go to school!" David scolded, trying to catch up with his grandson.

It took a lot of convincing and the promise to tell him everything when he finished school but Henry took his bus to school and David made his way to the Pawnbroker shop.

On the way, he stopped to make sure Graham was doing alright and didn't need anything. He was dating his daughter after all so he had to try and get to know him as more than the man who helped him escape from Regina all those years ago. After all, if he sacrificed his heart so that Snow could live and escape from Regina, he had to be a good man, right?

He wanted to hate the man for being with his daughter but she was a grown up and it was something he had to get used to. Emma had been his baby girl for less than an hour and now she was an adult who didn't really need him... It was hard to accept so if he could grill the man she dated, he would do it. Out of all the men she could have ended up with, Graham was one of the best around here and David had to admitt it.

When he arrived at the station, David saw that the Sheriff had a wolf with him. One of its eyes was red and the other one normal, it was strange. Graham explained that it was his friend in the Enchanted Forest and that he came to find him as soon as Emma made him remember who he was. He had kept him in his appartement and had taken him for long walks in the woods but now that the curse was broken for everyone and that they all remembered, he decided to keep the wolf with him all day as long as it wanted to be with him. He trusted the wolf and knew he wouldn't attack anybody and David decided to believe Graham. They even put a colar and a badge on the wolf so people would know they can trust it.

.

David didn't stay long with the Huntsman and quickly went back to his initial goal: Gold's shop.

"Gold, I was wondering if there was a way to send them a message, to communicate with them, to know if they're alright, if they have a plan..." He asked the man who had changed so much since Emma and Bella came to town as soon as he walked in the small shop.

"I've been thinking about it too but sadly, there isn't much we can do... We could talk to them through a mirror but they don't know how to enchant it and we'd have to get one to them...which is impossible. I left a few things in my castle that they could use to comunicate with us but they don't know about it so it's useless also. The other idea I had is a bit too risky and kind of a long shot..." He confessed.

"What is it?" David asked.

"Well, your wife has been under the sleeping curse and I think we can talk to her... Does she still have nightmare of a red burning room?" Gold asked.

"Sometimes... She told me it still happens when she's not sleeping in her bed, when she doesn't feel at ease somewhere... Why? How do you know?"

"Every person who has been under the sleeping curse and has woken up ends up going there in their sleep... If someone was to be asleep at the same time Snow is, they would be able to talk to her." Gold confessed.

"So put me under it then!" David demanded.

"And who would wake you up? You'd be under the sleeping curse for who knows how long and Henry would be all alone... This town needs you." Belle tried to reason with him.

"I'll do it." Gold said.

"What?" Belle and David asked.

"I'll show you what to do and you'll put me under the spell. Then Belle, you'll have to kiss me so I can wake up and when I go back to sleep I'll be able to find Snow...maybe...if she goes back there..." He suggested.

"You'd do this?" David asked.

"Of course! I made the mistake to let my cowardice take over once and I lost Bae. Bella is my second chance, she showed me who I could be, who I wanted to be and I will do anything for my daughter to be able to come back." He explained.

"I... Are you sure it will work?" Belle asked.

"I think it's worth the risk." He smiled before he prepared the poison and put it on a needle.

They did it all like it was planned and when Belle went to kiss him an hour later, he woke up.

"Now, all we have to do is hope we'll be asleep at the same time and that she'll have the nightmares..." Rumpel said as he sat up and straighten his jacket up.

"Keep me informed please. I have to go to the city hall and clean up Regina's office." David smiled before he left the shop.

"Do you think Bella is doing alright?" Belle asked her love.

"I know she is. She's got the best of the both of us. You'll see." He replied, sure of himself.

.

In the Enchanted Forest, Mulan and Aurora had dropped Snow, Emma and Bella in an isolated cell they called 'the pit'. Snow had been knocked out while trying to escape and the girls were trying to wake her up while saying as little as possible to the woman named Cora because Bella sensed that she wasn't completely truthful with them. She might assure them that she wasn't a danger to them, Emma felt that she was lying and did their best to ignore her and not to let too much information out in front of her.

After a short time however, Snow woke up and they were pulled out of the cell to be brought in front of the camp's leader.

As it turned out, the camp's leader, Lancelot, was an old friend of Snow and he allowed them to leave and look for a way home, as long as they took Mulan with them. Bella felt that something was wrong with this _Lancelot_ but she brushed it off. Her gift was probably working weirdly because she was in another world. She had to trust Snow, she knew better, especially here.

They left the camp, along with Mulan and Aurora and went on the road while Snow explained to Emma and Bella everything that was dangerous about this world now that the Ogres were back. They walked for a while and stopped to make camp when night fell.

On the way, Aurora had tried to attack Snow and Emma had attracted an Ogre by shooting with her gun. Fortunately, everything went well and they all managed to escape alive and even to kill the Ogre. Emma had to face the truth: in this world, she needed her mother to protect her.

.

When Snow found herself in the big red burning room again, she knew that it was because she wasn't used to sleep in the woods anymore. What she hadn't been expecting was the see M. Gold waiting there with a strange necklace and very little flames.

"What... What's going on?" She asked him.

"I put myself under the sleeping curse so I could come in this world and speak with you. Are all of you alright?" he asked her and she knew that if he asked about the three of them, he meant mainly Bella.

"We're alive... We're going back to my castle... I was thinking that maybe we could work something out with the Wardrobe to come home..." She explained.

"Good idea... Maybe the water from the lake Nostos will regenerate it's power."

"The lake is dry..." Snow said.

"There will always be water, you'll just have to dig a little for it." He replied.

"Okay... I... Will you come back?" She asked him.

"Until my daughter is back with me, I will come here every night at the same time." He assured her.

"Okay, so will I. How..." She started but they were interrupted by Aurora.

"What's going on? Usually the room is burning... What are you doing here?" The princess asked.

"Well, I was going to ask you how I can be sure to come back here but if Aurora is capable of coming here on her own, this answers that question. I'll explain everything later Aurora." Snow assured her.

"Tell Bella that we miss her and please, look after her." Gold ask Snow.

"I'll look after her as if she were my own daughter, I promise. Now, I should warn you, Cora is alive and here... She says she's powerless but Emma and Bella detected a lie. Bella '_felt'_ the truth and apparently Cora wants to go to Storybrook too..." Snow explained while Aurora listened but didn't interrupt, feeling this was important.

"Cora... Be careful... If you need to fight her you have to go to my cell, there's squid ink in there. You can use it against her." He advised.

"Thank you, that's a good idea. How are David and Henry doing?"

"They're missing you but fine and together. Don't worry, we all look after each other. The hat was destroyed when you left but we're hoping that fairy dust will fix it. If it works then Jefferson will come and get you home. It's probably better if you look for a solution on your side though. We can never be sure of anything." he informed her.

"Tell them we love them and miss them. I'll keep an eye on Bella as if she were Emma's real sister. I promise."

"I will. Thank you." He nodded.

He knew that he could trust her, she was Snow White after all.

"Either me or Aurora will come back in 15 hours to keep you informed." Snow said before both Aurora and her woke up.

After that Snow explained to everyone what happened and Aurora agreed to relay messages the next night if Snow wasn't able to go back to the red burning room.

.

They kept on walking for the entire day and they arrived in the castle shortly before night fell. Coming back brought a lot of emotions, especially in Snow and it allowed Emma to see for herself that not only was she wanted but that her parents had sacrificed a lot for her. As she looked at the room that would have been hers, she could imagine herself in it, she could picture herself be happy there.

Unfortunately, Lancelot arrived before they could do anything to the wardrobe and he turned out to be Cora, showing Bella that she had been right to be suspicious of him. They ended up fighting the witch and in order to prevent her from using the wardrobe, Emma set it on fire.

"I'm sorry... I couldn't let her get to Henry...I... I had to put him first..." Emma cried.

"It's okay Em, I understand completely." Bella said, hugging her along with Snow.

They ended up deciding to go back to the island and warn everyone else about what was going on before asking The Dark One what else they could do.

"Shouldn't we go to his cell to get the ink?" Bella asked Snow before they left.

"No, I think we should leave it there for now. If we take it now it might get stolen by Cora or be used against us in some way... It's best that we leave it there, keeping in mind that it's there and can be used if we need it." Snow explained and everyone nodded their agreement.

They had to stop to sleep at some point and Aurora was the only one to get to the Burning red room. She explained to the man she had met only once before what had happened and he assured her that they were still working on fixing the hat on their part. She agreed to meet him again in 15 more hours to exchange information and they both woke up.

They knew that it wouldn't be easy but Bella could feel it, they were going to find a way to go home soon.

.

In Storybrook, Graham was in the station. Gold had just come to reinforce the protections around Regina's cell with a few special ingredients of his confection and now the Evil Queen wouldn't be able to use any magic for anything, even inside her cell.

Henry was with Graham when Gold left. David was busy helping the dwarfs in the mines and so the young boy decided to read his book at his mother's desk until it was time to go back home. He liked spending time with Graham and his wolf. The animal seemed to like him too because it was presently waiting to be pet, his head on Henry's knees.

"Don't worry Henry, we'll see her again." The huntsman reassured the boy.

"I know... I just wish she'd be here already... I... I thought it would be different, that we'd all go back to the Enchanted Forest..." He replied.

"We will, one day. We'll find a way. Don't worry."

"Do you miss her too?"

"Of course I do." Graham smiled.

"Do you love her?" Henry asked his mother's boyfriend.

"I do. We'll see her again Henry, don't worry." Graham confessed.

"But Aurora told Gold that the land was full of Ogres and that Cora was out there, trying to stop them..." Henry protested.

"Snow has faced them before and they're not alone. They have Mulan with them and if I never met her, I know her story just like you and I'm sure they're safe." Graham reassured Henry.

"Don't try to reassure him Graham. My mother will kill them all and they'll suffer. I doubt we'll ever see them again and if we do, they'll never be the same ever again." Regina said from her cell.

"Don't listen to her Henry. Now, why don't you go to Granny's to get us a couple of burgers?" Graham asked Henry as he gave him some money.

Henry nodded and left the place, refusing to hear more of Regina's words.

"Question Regina, when they shot Bambi's mother, did you find that a sad moment, at all?" Graham asked her.

"I'm sure she's mounted on a nice wall in a fine home somewhere, **Huntsman**." Regina smirked.

"Figures. When they were handing out the evil gene you must have been fighting to get to the front of the line-up..." He muttered before going back to his office.

He was seriously considering asking Gold or Blue if one of them could render Regina mute. He was getting tired not only of seeing her but of hearing her and her evil sarcastic comment all the time. He just wanted to finally be rid of her and to have Emma back in his arms.

* * *

**So, what do you think?**

**What do you think will happen next?**

**Review please?**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	8. Chapter 8

**_Part 8_**

* * *

When they arrived in the camp, they were horrified to see that Cora had killed everyone and that all their hearts had been ripped out of their chests. It was a real bloody mess and it showed them how alike the mother and the daughter really were.

"It's horrible... how could she do something like this... All those innocent people..." Aurora exclaimed in horror.

"I think I'm going to throw up..." Bella whispered in a low voice but it was heard by everyone as if she had yelled it.

She had never seen a dead body before, this vision of horror was a first to her. Emma had seen a couple of dead bodies in her job and wasn't phased by it too much, neither were Snow or Mulan. Aurora seemed as sickened as Bella by it.

"It's Cora... She probably kept their hearts and is ready to use them when it fits her best." Snow declared right before Emma exclaimed:

"There's a survivor. Over here!"

"Someone's trapped under there!" Bella added as she helped Emma remove the bodies on top of the man who seemed to be missing a hand.

"Please, please don't hurt me." He begged.

As soon as they turned him around, Bella locked eyes with the stranger and felt something she had never felt before in her entire life. It was new and yet she could easily identify it as one of the things she had yearned for the most in her life so far. She really hoped that he wasn't a bad guy in this story or she'd be in trouble. When she put her hand on his arm to calm him down, she felt a small shock of electricity going through them and she knew he had felt it too. She decided to act as if she hadn't felt anything and looked somewhere else.

"Don't worry, you're safe now. What's your name?" Snow asked him as they helped him sit at the table and Aurora got him something to drink.

Emma was seeing her mother under a new light. Mary-Margaret had always seemed like the kind of woman who needed to be protected but Snow was apparently very capable of protecting herself. Her mother was a bad-ass and Emma liked it.

"I'm just the blacksmith." he replied and while Mulan confirmed having seen him around before, Bella and Emma looked at each other and nodded.

He was lying. They could both feel it and Emma didn't waste any time. She grabbed a knife and put it to the man's throat while Bella stepped away, deciding to do her best not to let her new found feelings for this stranger cloud her judgement when she wasn't even sure what they meant.

"You see, I have a special gift, I can tell when I'm being lied to. Now, how about you start telling us the truth buddy?" she asked him.

"I am telling the truth!" He argued.

"Fine, have it your way." Emma said before she, Snow and Mulan tied him up to a tree nearby.

Bella followed behind, resisting the urge to free him, to let run away, whoever he was.

Hook was curious about the pretty brunette with chocolate eyes and a pair of pants. What was this shock he felt when she touched him? Why did he care that she suddenly looked tormented?

Rainbow was watching everything and sighted. Had Killian Jones paid more attention to the present instead of concentrating on the past and on Milah, he would have realised that he was slowly falling for Bella. But he was focused on his plan, he had worked on it for over 200 years and he wasn't about to let a pretty face and a kind heart ruin them for him. Rainbow looked down on Bella and felt for the young woman she had created... She lived for love and she fell in love with her father's biggest enemy, well, one of them at least. She hoped that the truth of his identity would be hidden from Bella for as long as possible.

"What are you doing? You can't do this to me, I didn't kill anyone, Cora did." He argued.

"Now, I believe that part but you lied about who you were, so how about telling us the truth." Emma asked him.

Bella couldn't help but look into his eyes and feel some attraction for him. She wanted to give him a chance, to get to know him. Those feelings were new to her but from the moment she saw him she could feel the proverbial butterflies in her stomach. Was it really love? Did she really just experience Love at first sight for this lying stranger?

"I don't know what you mean..." The man tried once more before Emma shot in the air with her gun.

"Now you have until the Ogres get here to convince me that you're worth saving otherwise we'll leave your ass behind and let them finish you off." Emma told him.

"You better hurry." Snow advised.

"Please, I beg you. Save us all some time and save yourself, just tell us the truth and it'll be over." Bella begged him, looking him in the eyes.

"Fine, you bested me and I can count the number of people who have done that on one hand." He said with a smile, his eyes on Bella.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Bella asked him with a blush as she glanced at the hand he had missing.

"My name is Killian Jones but most people have taken to calling me Hook. It's in my bag." he replied and Snow opened the bag to find said hook.

Bella tried not to react to the name he gave them. It was just her luck, falling for someone who wanted to kill her father and who was still not over his past love. Great first love experience, she really was a lucky one here wasn't she? Someone out there must be having lots of fun playing with her life.

"Captain Hook..." Bella whispered in realization as she took a step back from him and tried not to look into his captivating eyes.

"Seriously?!" Emma exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

"Ah, I see you've heard of me." He winked at Bella and she tried not to blush.

He wondered why the fact that she refused to look him in the eyes bothered him so much.

"Why are you working with Cora? Hurry, the Ogres are coming closer." Emma asked him while her mother looked behind to the signs showing the Ogres were indeed coming closer.

"She offered to bring me back with her to Storybrook as long as I helped her get there too." He admitted, looking not at Emma but at Bella curiously.

"What does Captain Hook want in Storybrook?" Snow asked him, confused.

Bella closed her eyes and turned around, already knowing what he would say and yet hoping he would say something else and that it would be the truth.

"To kill the man who cut my hand: _Rumpelstiltskin_. Listen, if you let me go with you I'll offer you lovely ladies the same deal as Cora: I'll help you if you promise to take me back with you to your home. She has the ashes of the wardrobe and can create a portal to cross worlds with it, all she needs is a compass to help her navigate it and I know where to get it. Let me come with you and I'll help you steal it from her." He replied honestly.

Bella knew what he was going to reply and yet as soon as he said he wanted to kill her father her heart broke a little. Did she really have to fall in love with him? With the man who wanted her father dead the most and had waited 200 years to put his revenge into action? With a man who would probably never be able to let go of his first love who happened to be her father's ex wife... This situation tormented her and she didn't know how she was going to get on with her life with this pain in her heart. It seemed to her like there was no solution to her weird situation.

"Why would you help us if you worked with Cora?" Mulan asked him.

"We can't trust him, he's a pirate." Aurora whispered to Snow.

"Because the 5 of you seem far safer and much better company than she is." He replied honestly.

"Bella? What do you think?" Emma asked as she looked up at Bella, along with the others.

They knew that he was telling the truth, Emma and Bella felt it but they also knew that it was Bella's right to decide to leave him behind. None of them would judge her if she decided to turn around and leave him tied up to that tree.

Bella knew that the decision was hers. It was her father he wanted to kill and so this dilemma was entirely hers. If they left him behind he would die and she couldn't have that...she didn't think she would be able to go on with her life knowing that she had caused her love's death.

"Bella?" Emma asked her again, feeling that something was wrong with her.

"Let him go." Bella declared, trying to sound sure of herself before she turned away.

"Are you sure? It's your..." Mulan started but Bella cut her off, turning back to face Snow.

"Cut him loose, the Ogres are coming closer. We need to get going, quickly." Bella said before she turned around.

Hook wondered why it was this one who made the decision and he was curious as to why she seemed so sad all of the sudden when she had had so much life and peacefulness in her eyes when she helped him up... Now she looked sad, tortured and he was surprised by the fact that it bothered him. He wanted to see her smile.

While Hook walked in front of Mulan and Aurora, Snow and Emma were a bit behind, trying to see what was wrong with Bella.

"Bella, why didn't you ask us to leave him back there? He wants to kill your father... We would have understood." Snow told her.

"I... It's a hard decision but I couldn't let him die... I know who he is, I know what he wants and I know why...But...I...When I saw him, it was instantaneous... I couldn't help it... I've never felt that way...I..." Bella tried to explain with a torturous expression on her face.

"You love him? So quickly? How?" Emma asked her.

"Love at first sight..." Bella replied, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay honey, we'll find a solution. Maybe spending time with you will change his mind if you tell him who you are and how much your father has changed..." Snow said while they both hugged Bella.

"I just feel so bad about feeling this way for him out of all people..." Bella cried.

"Don't worry, if two people are meant to be together, they find a way. Everything will be alright honey." Snow comforted her like a mother would.

"Everything okay back there? You want us to take a break?" Mulan asked, concerned as Aurora and Hook turned around curiously.

"No, I'm fine." Bella replied, brushing her tears away and doing her best not to look at Hook.

"I think a small break would be perfect." Emma nodded.

"Don't stop on my account." Bella protested, refusing to be the weak link.

"I need to get some sleep anyway, it's almost time to meet Rum...your father in the dream world to inform him of the plan changes. He'll probably worry if I don't show up or if I'm late." Aurora smiled.

Bella nodded and took the water that Emma offered her while Hook kept on looking at her curiously and with interest.

While the others sat down and got busy, Bella walked closer to Aurora, kneeled in front of her and whispered:

"Could you give a message to my father for me please?"

"Of course... It's about Hook isn't it? " Aurora guessed and Bella nodded.

"Tell my father that I won't let Hook come with us if I think there's no chance of him deciding to change his plan, to forget his anger. Tell my father that no matter how I feel about Hook, I'll put his safety before my heart. He can trust me. Tell..." Bella was cut off in her last sentence by Aurora.

"Feelings? For Hook?" Aurora exclaimed softly.

Unfortunately, the last word had been said too loudly and the pirate heard it, along with the others. Bella blushed, thankful that he hadn't heard the first words.

"Talking about me are you?" Hook asked with a flirty smile in Bella's direction.

"I was just telling her that we would keep an eye on you while she slept, she was worried that you'd bother her." Bella lied, unable to hide the blush on her face every time he spoke directly to her.

"If you want to make sure I don't bother the sleeping princess over there, all you have to do is distract me pretty Bella." Hook replied, trying to charm her.

Bella rolled her eyes and turned back to Aurora:

"Just...please, make sure my father understands that I won't betray him and that I will make sure he's not going to be murdered by Hook, even if it means leaving him behind and breaking my heart." Bella whispered.

Aurora nodded, her face and heart full of compassion for her new friend before she laid on the ground and got to sleep.

.

Aurora appeared in the red room that, thanks to the Dark One wasn't burning anymore and was glad to see that he was already here, waiting for her.

"Aurora, you're late, I was getting worried. What are the news?" he asked her immediately.

"Cora ripped the hearts of everyone at the settlement except one who was working with her."

"Was?" Gold asked curiously.

"I need you to listen to me without interruptions now please. It's important." she insisted.

"Of course." he nodded.

"First of all, Bella wants you to know that she has absolutely everything under control and that she would **never** betray you. She loves you dearly and will always put your safety above everything else."

"Now you have me worried... Why does she feel the need to remind me of this?" he asked the princess.

"The man Cora left behind, it's Hook. We agreed to work with him because he can help us get back to your world. Cora gathered the ashes from the wardrobe and plans on using them to make a portal. She also need a special compass and Hook knows where to get it. We promised him to let him come to Storybrook if he helped us but Bella... She fell for him, love at first sight and all that...she couldn't control it...the situation tortures her and she's willing to sacrifice her possible future with Hook in order to protect you. She _will_ leave him behind if she can't convince him to let go of his revenge plan." Aurora explained, trying to be as clear as possible.

"Bella is in love with Hook?" Gold asked, stupefied.

"Yes, she is but hasn't told him and I think she's planning on trying to work on him so he can see how much you've changed. She can't help her feelings, it was Love at first sight..." Aurora replied.

"I trust her but...tell her not to leave him behind, even if he doesn't change his mind." he told the princess.

"What?" She was shocked.

"You've heard me. I refuse to let her sacrifice everything she's been waiting for her entire life, I know how precious love is and I know how painful it is to lose it. Tell her not to leave Hook behind. Whatever happens between us, I want her to be happy. I won't get between them... We'll sort it out once you're all back here with us. That's the priority." he assured them.

"Very well. About the ashes, do you know how we could use them?" She asked him.

"I'll think about it and tell you what to do later." He replied.

"Okay. So you want me to tell Bella not to sacrifice anything for you and that you'll deal with Hook when we come back?"

"Yes, and assure her that I will not kill Hook, even if he tries to kill me."

"What if he does kill you?" Aurora asked him curiously.

"Then hopefully he'll have waited a little while for me to make up for my past mistakes to my son first. Tell her not to worry about it, that she's my daughter and that Hook won't come to any harm from me if he comes with them. I'll work things out with him as peacefully as possible later." he insisted.

"I'll tell her. See you tomorrow at the same time?" She asked him.

"Yes." He nodded before they both woke up.

Back in Storybrook, Gold was getting ready to explain everything to Belle who had started working at the Library. She was always eager to know what her daughter was doing and he knew she'd be glad to know she had fallen in love, even if the situation was a tad complicated.

.

Aurora woke up and looked for Bella. She was around the fire, blushing at something Hook had said.

"Aurora, you're up!" Bella exclaimed, rushing to her.

"He said he'll think about the ashes and tell us what to do about it later. He got your message and said not to worry about it. He'll deal with it once we're all back in Storybrook. He said that he doesn't want you to sacrifice anything for him. You come with Hook, even if he hasn't changed his mind about getting revenge and your father promises not to try and kill him, even if Hook tries to kill him first." Aurora relayed the message.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Snow asked, shocked.

She couldn't help but overhear what was being said and she had a hard time believing it.

"Yes, he seemed sorry for you, for the pain you're going through..." Aurora explained.

"Thank you."

While Aurora slept, the other had eaten a bit and talked around a small fire. Hook was not too bad company and if everyone had been introduced, Bella still hadn't told him who her father was. Right now, they had talked all together and she couldn't help but feel like he was trying to flirt with her every once in a while but she decided not to think too much of it. Maybe it was simply wishful thinking, maybe she was just seeing what her heart wanted to see.

They had teased him a lot too, describing how Captain Hook was represented in their world and laughed as his face contorted with horror at the descriptions. They also told him how in their stories of Peter Pan, Hook's first name was James most of the times and he wondered why that was. If all the other names were mostly right, why would his be wrong? He was sure that this was a trick of Peter Pan's to annoy him. He didn't speak about the little devil but he had a feeling that Bella knew more about Neverland and Peter Pan than she let on. He could feel that she was hiding something and he wanted to find out what it was.

In her mind, Bella couldn't help but feel like Killian Jones was closer to Jack Sparrow than he was to Peter Pan's Hook.

.

After Aurora ate a bit too, they decided to get back on the road and went back to walking. As they did, Aurora approached Mulan and asked:

"How will I defend myself if we're attacked? I don't know anything about fighting!"

"I'll defend you like I promised Phillip I would." Mulan assured her.

"But what if you're busy elsewhere?" Aurora insisted.

"In case of an attack it's simple: if you can run, run. If you can't run, surrender, then run. If you're outnumbered, let them fight each other while you run." Mulan advised her.

"Shouldn't I have a weapon to defend myself?" The princess asked.

"No. If they see you with a weapon, you'll be a target. The best thing to do is to..." Mulan said but was cut off by Aurora:

"Run?"

"Yes." Mulan agreed with a smile, glad to see her Princess had gotten the message and learned the lesson.

Aurora smiled and dropped the subject. Mulan had defended her quite well until now so why should she worry about having to fight for herself?

* * *

**What did you think? **

**Some of you didn't want to see Bella and Hook ending together... Well, They will end up together but it's going to take some time.**

**Is there anything you REALLY want to see happening or that you REALLY DON'T want to see happening?**

**Review please**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Part 9_**

* * *

After a while, they arrived in front of a giant beanstalk and Hook explained what needed to be done. Only one could come up with him and a giant was waiting up there.

Emma wanted to go and do something concrete to go back home but she saw this as the perfect opportunity to help her sister, for once.

Bella had always been afraid of doing dangerous things, she would always let others take the risks and Emma could see this as an excuse, knowing that Bella would go up there for her and on the way, she would have to get to know Hook. Emma explained her plan to everyone else while Bella was aside, untying the pirate and giving him his hook back.

"So, which one of you lovely ladies will go up there with me? Come now, fight it out. And don't be afraid to, you know, _really_ get into it." He said with a teasing smile.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Aurora shook her head.

"Bella will do it." Emma declared.

"Me? Why?" Bella protested.

Emma got closer to her and told her:

"Bella, this is your chance to do something dangerous for once, face your fears. Plus, it will give you a lot of alone time with Hook to try and convince him not to kill your father..."

"But why don't you go? You're much braver than I am..." Bella tried.

"We both know that it's not true. The only reason I appear braver is because you make me braver. You've done so much for me Bella, this is my chance to do something for you. Trust me, please. You have to do it." Emma whispered to her.

"Fine... But you know how clumsy I get, if I end up falling down and breaking my neck, it's on you." Bella warned her with humor in a louder voice.

"Ah, I was hoping it would be you." Hook smiled at Bella when she agreed and walked toward him.

She got closer to him and as he put the leather protection on her wrist he added:

"By the way, don't worry, I won't let you fall. I hate seeing pretty lady die when it can be avoided."

"Now I feel so much better..." Bella rolled her eyes, trying to hide her blush and the real joy behind the knowledge that he had her back.

Before they left, Mulan gave them a small bag with a sleeping powder in it so they could get rid of the giant with more ease.

Bella nervously glanced at the giant beanstalk in front of her.

"Don't worry Bells. Don't look down, always make sure you're secure before to move ahead and take your time. You can do this. Remember than you're in control until you start panicking. Panic is your enemy." Emma advised her.

"Don't you worry, the Lady is safe with me." Hook intervened.

"I don't know if that makes me feel any better..." Snow said.

"Come on, let's go before I chicken out of this." Bella sighted and started the climb with Hook by her side.

.

As soon as Bella and Hook started climbing, Mulan started showing Emma some good sword fighting moves while Snow helped Aurora sleep and control her dreams so she could navigate freely in this dream world. The two women got to know each other while they fought and quickly became good friends who could trust each other.

Emma glanced at the princess who had her head on Snow's lap and she couldn't help a small wave of jealousy coming over her but it left as quickly as it came. She knew that Aurora wasn't trying to take her mother from her and she knew that she didn't need her mother that way. There was no point of being jealous of this. Plus, Snow was probably enjoying taking care of someone who needed her for once.

.

"You're not a big talker are you? Or am I just making you nervous?" Hook asked Bella.

"I've never been much of a talker and I'm trying to concentrate on not falling down. The fall is a bit too much for me to survive it. Nothing to do with you." She replied, half lying.

"There's something about you Miss Swan... I can't explain it... I think you're hiding something from me... You and your friends... I think that what you're hiding is about you..." He said as they kept on climbing.

"Why are you so interested?" She asked him, her heart jumping at the thought that he might care about her.

"I don't know, you're intriguing." he shrugged his shoulders.

He couldn't explain his fascination with her. He wanted to know everything there was to know about her, he wanted to know why she was crying earlier and he wanted to see her smile happily. He had never been this interested about someone before, not even with Milah and he couldn't help but feel something different when she was near, like the hope of being happy again some day soon. She made him feel like he'd be able to forget about Milah one day and it scared him as much as it pleased him. If this was love, maybe concentrating on his revenge might be why he didn't feel more, maybe if he stopped thinking about Milah he would fall in love with Bella but wouldn't that be betraying his old love? He couldn't do that, not until his revenge was complete. Killing the Dark One was his goal and he couldn't give up on it, not now.

"I don't know if I should tell you." She blushed.

"You definitely should love. Confessing is good for the soul." He smiled at her flirtatiously and she had to remember to hold on to the Beanstalk tighter.

"How about this: if we managed to get to the compass and to go back down alive, then I'll tell you my secret."

"That's a deal, love." he agreed.

"What could be so bad anyway? We have a deal. Unless you tell me that you're Rumpelstiltskin in disguise, there's nothing you could tell me that could jeopardise our plan." He reassured her.

"Yeah, right..." she chuckled humorlessly while climbing higher and trying not to look down.

She wasn't sure if being Rumpelstiltskin's daughter was much better than being the Dark One himself in Hook's book. She was glad to have bought herself some time before she had to tell him everything. Maybe he would get somewhat attached to her during their mission and accept it all better later.

"About the Dark one..." She started to ask but stopped before she could finish her sentence.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"I've spent some time with him back in Storybrook... You should know that he has changed a lot... he not so Dark anymore and he's sorry for what he's done." Bella informed him, figuring it was the best time to try something.

"The Dark one having changed and feeling sorry? Yeah, I'll have to see it before I believe it. He still needs to pay for what he's done." Hook replied.

"I know about Milah, he told me everything... I know that nothing justifies killing her, that was very wrong but can you put himself in his place at all and understand his reasons?" Bella asked Hook.

"What reasons? He's an evil coward." The pirate snorted.

"He loved Milah, she was the first person he let in his heart since his father abandoned him back when he was a kid. His father left him twice. Once so he'd be free to drink and play money games all day long and when Rumpelstiltskin went to find him with a bean to go to another world and have a new start, his father left him a second time to enjoy life in a new world on his own... Milah... She was the first person Rumpelstiltskin let in besides the two women who took him in and taught him how to spin... Yes, he's been cowardly when the time to face the ogre came but only because a seer told him that his actions on the battlefield would leave his son fatherless..." Bella took a breath then and Hook spoke:

"See how well that turned out... I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree."

"I know that he left Baelfire... He's let his fears of loss rule his entire life and he's only now starting to get over that. It's not easy but he can do it, he's doing it. When he saw that Milah was alive with you after he'd spend so long mourning for her and beating himself up for not being able to fight for her... He got angry and took it out on her in the only way he could... I know that he regretted killing her the minute he had done it... You can believe whatever you want but he's not evil, he's just afraid."

"What about the coward part? You truly think that he's working on it, that he's changing?" Hook asked her.

She could see that he wasn't ready to change his mind, he was just letting her talk so he could get to know her better but she had to do her best to convince him.

"I do. He put himself under the sleeping curse so he could communicate with Aurora and Snow and guide us home. He told us where to find what we could need to get rid of Cora shall she attack us directly. He knows that you're with us and he told us to let you come if it got us home, that the priority was to come home, no matter the price." Bella said, not looking at hook but concentrating on moving upward.

"Why would he do that?" Killian asked her.

"Because he's trying to find some sort of redemption until he can find his son and tell him how sorry he is. All he wants is a chance to tell Baelfire that he loves him... He just wants to make things right." Bella insisted.

"He can never make things right with me." Hook replied in a hard voice.

"I know..." Bella sighted.

"Why are you telling me all this?" He asked her.

"Because I think he deserve a second chance, everyone does." She replied and Hook was silent for a while before he spoke again:

"How do you know so much about him anyway? For him to tell you all of this you had to be close... What's the reason behind this?"

"When Emma and I got to Storybrook and Regina made sure we couldn't stay at Granny's bed and breakfast, he found us a nice place to live, he helped us...He even let me work at his shop." Bella half-lied.

"And you just hit it off?" The pirate asked her, feeling that she was hiding something.

"Emma would tell you that I could get anyone, no matter how dark the heart, to open up and change his ways... I think I just gave him the chance he needed to be open and honest." Bella replied truthfully.

"You'd be upset if I killed him..." He realized.

"I would... Don't get me wrong, I understand your pain and I know that I'm in no position to tell you _not_ to go after him but... I think that you should at least wait until he made up with Baelfire before you killed him..." Bella replied, avoiding his eyes.

"I'll think about it." He whispered before concentrating on their climb, checking on Bella every so often to see if she was following.

They climbed the rest of the way in a relative silence. Sometimes they would exchange a few words but Hook seemed to understand that Bella needed the silence to concentrate on facing her fear. When they finally reached the top, Hook easily got off but as Bella went to follow him, her foot slipped and she cut her hand on a sharp stone as she tried to hold on to something. She would have fallen all the way down if Killian hadn't reacted this fast. He reached out for her hand and quickly brought her up next to him.

"Thank you... I thought I was going to fall for a moment..." Bella breathed out.

She then started breathing from her mouth so she didn't smell the blood coming out of her hand. It was already making her dizzy. She really should start carrying a first hand kit on her all the time.

"I couldn't let you fall now could I? I don't even know your secret yet and I would miss the charming company you provide." He replied as he got his flask out and poured some of it on her hand before he started to tie his handkerchief around her hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked him as the alcohol touched her skin, burning her wound.

"Cleaning it off, we don't want it to get infected now, do we?" he asked her kindly.

It went a wave of happiness in Bella to know that he cared enough to do this. Having someone taking care of her was still new and she liked it. Usually, she was the one making sure the others were okay, not the other way around. Her father had been the first.

"Thank you... But you're going to wish you'd let me fall when I tell you my secret." She said honestly, without thinking.

"I doubt it." He shook his head.

He wanted to try and push her to tell her everything now but he changed his mind. He didn't want her getting upset and deciding not to tell him anything so he had to stick to the actual plan.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Bella asked him.

"You can ask it, I can't promise to answer it though." He replied.

"I understand... Do you ever think you'll be able to get over Milah? I mean, she's been gone for over 200 years now..." She asked this question because as he treated her injured hand, she had seen his tattoo and it had hurt her.

She realised only too late that she mentioned how long Milah had been dead for when Hook had never given them this information. He didn't seem to pick up on it though.

"I strongly believe that once Love is gone, it's gone forever." He replied seriously.

"Really? You've never seen people finding another love later or are you just saying this because you'd feel bad meeting someone new?" She asked him.

"I don't know, maybe, if I ever meet the right woman, eventually... Not before I get my revenge on the Dark One though. I'll kill him before I can really let go of my Milah." He replied and the way he was looking at her had her blushing and looking down.

It was obvious that he was wondering if she was personally interested and she was glad that he didn't bring it up.

Hook wondered why she was so interested in this and why he was embarrassed to tell her that he didn't know if he'd be able to move on from Milah. Why did he want her to have hope about them? Why was he even thinking of the possibility of her in his arms when he knew for sure she was keeping a big secret from him, a secret she was afraid of revealing and that made her believe he would change his mind about helping them?

"I'm guessing this is where the final battle happened... Those bones are so big..." Bella said as she looked in awe around the place.

"All we have to do is wait for him to fall asleep and..." He started but she cut him off.

"It would take way too long. What if he just woke up or if he has insomnia? We have to be as quick as possible, what if Cora is on her way? What if she found a way to go up? Mulan gave me some magical sleeping powder. All we have to do is find a way to make him breath it all." Bella said as she showed him the small bag she had put in the shoulder bag she had taken from Snow's castle.

There wasn't much in it, simply a knife, a box of matches, Mulan's powder and some string that she figured could be useful. She liked to have a bag with her, always. This way she could put potentially useful things. Now that she had taken the sleeping powder out of it, it felt really empty, almost useless.

"Right... Well, you should climb on that statue. I'll attract him and you'll throw it in his face when he comes out." He suggested.

"Okay.. Hum...I have to climb this? Can't we exchange places?" She asked him.

She couldn't see herself climb that big statue. It didn't look like it was going to be very easy to do.

"No, you'll be safer up there and I promised I'd get you down alive. Don't worry, you can do it." he encouraged her as she did her best to climb the huge statue while he stayed on the safe ground and told her what to do.

Once she was on top of the statue (finally) and ready, Hook used a huge bone, probably one of the leg, to hit a metal shield and attracted the giant outside. As soon as the last remaining giant walked through the door of his castle, they both realised that Bella wasn't high enough to put him to sleep.

When Hook saw that they were about to lose a good opportunity, he yelled and managed to anger the giant enough so that he'd try to catch him, bringing him down to the right height for Bella to blow all the powder in his face.

The giant breathed everything in and quickly went crashing on the ground, making everything shake and forcing Bella to slide down the statue if she didn't want to fall and hurt herself.

"Hook!" She called out when she didn't see him.

She saw the giant fall on him and she was too busy making sure she would slide down the statue instead of falling down that she couldn't see if he had had time to run away from the heavy giant falling asleep.

"Well, we do make a good team, don't we love?" he said joyfully as he appeared from under the giant's pants.

"Yeah, that we do." She smiled, happy to know he was safe before she followed him inside.

.

While Bella and Hook entered the giant's castle, Mulan and Emma trained.

"You're getting better." Mulan complimented Emma.

"Thanks, it's not as hard as I thought it would be." Emma replied.

"It's in your blood. You seem worried though."

"Yeah, I'm worried about Bella and about Henry... I hope he's doing fine." Emma replied.

"Isn't his father there to take care of him?" She asked.

"No, and that's a good thing. He's with his grandfather, my father... I guess it's best this way... Henry's father... he wasn't a good guy." Emma explained.

"Did he... Were you forced...?" Mulan started to ask.

"What? Oh no! No, I just mean that he was a liar and a thief... he broke my heart and my trust..." Emma said.

"I understand... It's the kind of experiences who makes you want to give up on men all together right?" Mulan asked her but there was an edge in her voice.

"Sometimes... In Storybrook, I met someone... Graham... I'm not sure I'm in love with him yet but I definitely care a lot about him and knowing that Henry is with him and my father makes me feel better..."

"You don't know if you love him?" Mulan asked.

"I think that I do but that deep down I'm doing my best not to feel love because I'm afraid of being hurt again...and a part of me still loves Henry's father, which isn't such a good thing."

"Hurting is part of life... The pain is just a remainder that you survived, that you're alive." Mulan explained.

"That's very wise. What about you, any epic love stories to tell?" Emma asked her as they took a break and went to sit by Snow and Aurora who had a fire going with some kind of meet roasting.

"No... I joined the emperor's army because it was who I was, even if I broke rules by doing it but it made me see men in a totally different way. I'm aware that they're not all unwashed pigs, rude asses or violent uncaring idiots but I... I think it changed something in me... I... Now I feel for women what I should feel for men... I try not to but... It's not easy..." Mulan confessed.

It was the first time that she confessed this to anyone.

"It's okay, you can't change who you are. It's quite common in our world. One day you'll find the right person for you, I'm sure of it. At least that's what Bella would tell you." Emma replied gently, finishing with a chuckle.

"Have you ever been in love with a woman then?" Snow asked Mulan.

"Maybe not in Love but attracted to one yes, a few times." Mulan replied.

"Did you confess your feelings?" Emma asked her.

"No... I was too afraid of rejection and most of the time they were in love with a man... There was nothing I could do." Mulan explained.

"Well, next time, don't wait until it's too late. You never know what the outcome could be." Emma advised.

"Emma's right. Life has ways of surprising you sometimes." Snow added, smiling with pride at her daughter.

"You said that it was common in your world but have you ever experienced anything like this?" Mulan asked Emma.

"Actually yes, I did. When I was 20 I wanted to experience around a bit... Her name was Marissa and she was a lesbian, that's how we call women who love women instead of men. I was looking for some entertainment and she offered to let me experience with her. I did." Emma explained, embarrassed to say this in front of her mother.

"And? Did you like it?" Mulan asked while Snow tried to ignore what was being said about her daughter.

She still had a lot to learn about her.

"It's wasn't that bad but I didn't enjoy it as much as when it's with a man. I guess it's just not who I am." Emma replied before she glanced at the beanstalk.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine." Snow comforted her daughter.

"What if she ends up telling him who she is while they're up there and he ends up leaving her behind or worst, killing her?" Emma exclaimed.

"I don't think it's going to happen. On one hand Bella is smart and will probably wait until they are down to tell him anything, on the other, Hook seems to be a man of honor and I've watched him. He's curious about Bella, I think that whatever she feels, he's starting to feel it, it's just taking longer because of his personal issues." Snow explained.

"But why?" Aurora asked.

"Probably because he's still not over his past love, Milah." Emma replied.

"I feel bad for Bella... Things just look so complicated for her and Hook..." Aurora said.

"I know... She's waited 28 years to fall in love and it falls on the one enemy of her father who has a damned good reason not to give up his revenge..." Mulan nodded.

"We'll figure things out. True Love always finds a way and I have a feeling that what's between them is true love." Snow announced before Emma and Mulan decided to go hunting for some food.

.

Back in Storybrook, Ruby was looking for her red hood and she couldn't find it anywhere. Even M. Gold had tried to help but it wasn't in his shop and he couldn't use magic to locate it because it was already a powerful magical object. She was worried about turning for the first time in so long and losing control...she didn't want to hurt anyone.

"You could always lock me up in the freezer, it's probably strong enough to hold me..." she suggested as she was in Gold's shop with David, her grandmother, Graham and Belle.

"It's full of food... What about the cell next to Regina's?" Graham offered.

"How about in the cell WITH Regina?" Leroy suggested with a smirked.

"Be serious please, it's important." Ruby scolded, stopping all their chuckles.

"I can always throw the food away... The freezer seems to be the best option." Granny replied.

"How about where the dragon was before Regina killed it?" Belle asked.

"She's right. The basement of the library will definitely be strong enough to hold the wolf and to keep her away from anyone else." Gold nodded.

"I think it's the best option." David nodded.

"It's settled then. It's always better than risking hurting people.. I don't want to kill anyone else..." Ruby replied as she lead the way to the library.

* * *

_**So, Chapter 9 already...what do you think of it?**_

_**Who will Mulan fall in love with? Will it be shared? I might not follow the show on this one... Who do you think she should fall for to make things more interesting for us?**_

**_Review_**_** please, reading them always cheers me up.**_

_**I'm not feeling too well lately but I'll try to keep on updating weekly.**_

_**Lorelei Candice Black**_


	10. Chapter 10

**_Part 10_**

* * *

Bella and Hook had just entered the castle and Bella couldn't believe how big it all was. She had never seen anything like it and it gave her the impression that she was exceptionally small.

"This is all so big...Now I know how mice feel..." she declared, making her companion chuckle.

"Come on, according to Cora's indications the treasure room is this way." He pointed to the right.

Cora had given him directions and description of the place and so they quickly arrived in a gigantic treasure room. Bella was in awe in front of so much beauty.

Bella frowned as she stepped over a human skeleton, not much taller than she was. It looked like it had been left where the body fell and Bella tried to forget the fact that it had once been a real body. Beside the skeleton was a simple but pretty sword with the name "_Jack_" written on it.

"Jack...I guess the story I know isn't the real one if Jack died up there instead of going back down with the golden goose." She whispered.

"Legend says that the sword is coated in poison to kill the giants but be careful, if it's powerful enough to kill a giant, who knows what it can do to a human." Hook explained as they kept on walking, escaping a few smartly placed traps along the way.

"Wow...All the starving people that could be fed with this gold..." Bella said in awe as she looked around.

"You've got such a big heart... All I think about when I see this is my pockets and how empty they presently are." he replied as he placed a couple of gold coins in his pocket.

"We're not here for you to get richer, we're here to find the compass and go home." She exclaimed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him further down the alley.

"You know, if you want to get closer to me, you don't have to find an excuse." He smirked at her as she tried to pull him along.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste." She begged him, looking back at the door.

"What's your hurry?" He asked her with a smile as he forced her to stop.

"Do you know how long magic knock out powder lasts on a giant?" Bella asked him, letting go of his arm with a blush.

"I have no clue." he smiled back at her.

"That's my hurry." She replied, looking toward the door to make her point.

"Point taken." he said as he walked further down the room with her, not without placing another couple of coins in his pocket.

They arrived in front of several chests and they separated to look through them. While Bella looked carefully for anything that could be what she needed, Hook found something that caught his attention as soon as he opened the first chest in front of him.

Among all the gold and gems, there was a bright red watch/compass who didn't tell time. On top of it was engraved **_TSM finder_**. Could it really be? He had heard legends about it and if he was right about what it was, lots of people would pay a lot of money to have it in their hands only for a few minutes.

He opened it and before he could read the instructions engraved on the inside of the top cover of the watch, he saw both arrows turning and pointing to Bella. Curious as to what it meant, he read the instructions. They were in another language but thankfully he could read it. As he read on, he hoped that Bella didn't know how to read this particular language but since he had learned it in another realm and she had never traveled, he felt confident that she wouldn't know this one.

_"You hold the True Soul Mate finder._

_The big arrow points to the closest True Love compatible with you. _

_The small arrow points to your one Soul Mate. _

_If yours isn't in this realm, it will keep on turning. _

_You can have several True Love but only **one True Soul Mate**._

_Cherish it forever."_

Killian Jones knew that he had no choice but to believe in this compass/watch because he had heard of it a couple of times before in his travels. Once more he opened it and both arrows turned quickly to point to Bella.

"Did you find anything?" Bella asked him when she saw that he wasn't searching anymore.

"What?" he asked her, closing the compass again quickly, having a hard time accepting the revelation the compass made him.

Could he even believe it? Of course he could, but accept it? He needed time, she couldn't find out now. He vaguely wondered if she already felt something for him but he pushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to concentrate on things like this. he had a mission to complete.

"Is this what we're looking for?" She asked him, pointing at the red watch in his hand.

"No, but it might turn out useful some day." He smiled, putting it in one of his belt pockets so she couldn't see it.

She seemed to believe him because she smiled at him, nodded and went back to looking. Maybe she simply didn't care or figured that it was a pirate thing.

If they were True Love, Soul mates even, it would explain why he felt so good around her. Would this explain her tears earlier? She had asked him to consider giving up on killing The Dark One, would he be capable of doing it? Give up on avenging his last Love for his one perfect Soul Mate?

He looked up at her and smiled. The light in the room and the gold were reflecting on her skin and hair, making her look like she was in a halo of light, like an angel and he couldn't help but smile wider.

It would take him some time to get over Milah, he had held on to her too tightly over the past couple of centuries to let go this easily and it probably explained why he didn't feel the full power of love yet but he now knew he had the hope of finding love again. All he had to do was concentrate on Milah until she was avenged in order to prevent him from feeling too much and too early for Bella. After all, he had all the time in the world right? He was sure than even if Bella already felt something for him, she was capable of understanding his need of more time. After all, she knew about Milah, she would probably wait until he was ready.

Suddenly, a big crashing sound was heard and they could see the giant coming their way.

"Bella!" Hook exclaimed as she turned his way and he yelled "Run!" at her.

Bella didn't have time to do anything because Hook ran toward the giant and distracted him. Not looking back, she ran back to the skeleton and instinctively grabbed Jack's sword. She wasn't going to leave him behind and go back down without the compass. She was going to fight, even if this would be the first real fight of her life, even if it was against a giant. She had to try something to save Hook, the first man she had been capable of loving.

When she arrived back in front of the giant, Hook was knocked out cold and the giant turned her way, looking very angry.

She stood her ground, the sword in front of her. Before she tried to hit the giant with the sword, she decided to try and talk their ways out of this, without violence.

"My name is Bella. Please, we don't want to hurt you, we just want a compass so we can go home." Bella told him in a voice loud enough so he could hear it, making sure he could see on his face that she was sincere.

"You humans always come to hurt, you all killed my entire family, why should I believe you?" He growled, his voice resonating all around her.

"Just look in my eyes. You can see a person's soul through their eyes and people always tell me that I'm an open book. Please, just give me a few moments to explain the situation. Here." Bella said as she threw the sword as far away from her as she could and lifted her arms in a non-armful way.

"Fine." He nodded and Bella started telling him who she was and how she and her friends arrived in this place.

Then she told him their plan to go home and why they needed to go before Cora did. She told him everything, not hiding anything that could be important. He listened to her and she could see in his eyes that he believed her.

"I don't know what happened to you, I only know the tale they have in my land but we both know that the story is always told by the winner and often it's told wrong. I can see in your eyes that you've suffered and I'm sorry for that but you're a good person, I know it. Please, help us get back home." She begged him.

"Well Bella, you're not like most humans I've encountered before... My name is Anton." he smiled at her.

"It's nice to meet you." She replied before she realised that Hook was standing back up behind her.

"Hook! Are you okay?" she asked him as she rushed by his side.

"I've been better but I have to say, you impress me." He replied, eyeing the nice giant.

"Anton, do you happen to have any bean left? It would make going back home much easier." She asked him.

"No, they're all destroyed. When King George's son James attacked we didn't want to risk them stealing them from us. I only survived because I was destroying them..." Anton replied, his eyes full of sorrow.

"Prince James? He's my friend Emma's uncle. Her father is his twin brother but they're totally different... James died. He was too arrogant apparently and he paid the price for it." Bella explained.

"At least there's some justice then." The giant nodded as he sat down in front of them.

"You must be so lonely out here... Aren't there any giants left anywhere else?" Bella asked him kindly.

"Not in this world, no...and without beans I can't go and look for more of them elsewhere..."

"Lake Nostos!" Bella exclaimed.

"What about it?" Hook asked her.

"Anton, there's a lake down there, Lake Nostos. There isn't any water left in it but if we dig we should be able to find water. It's magical, the water from this lake has regenerative properties. If you put a burned out bean in it, then it will restore it and you'll be able to grow more of them." Bella explained to the giant.

"My father had me salt the earth here." Anton replied.

"Then go somewhere else! I'd offer you to come with us, we'd love to have you but you're much too tall, if our town accepts you, the other people from our world wouldn't and it wouldn't be fair to you." Bella sighted.

"It's very nice of you... I'm too tall for your world and when my brothers were alive I was too small..." Anton told her.

Killian didn't speak much, he simply watched Bella win over the giant he had been told was so evil and angry.

"Life has a way of being ironic with us." Hook said to Anton who nodded.

The giant fumbled in his shirt and handed Bella a golden chain with something on it.

"Here, take it. It's the compass you're looking for. I hope it helps you get back home." Anton smiled when she took it.

"Thank you... I just wish there was a way for us to help you..." She replied.

"Maybe you can still come with us... Take a couple of the destroyed beans with you... When we get to the lake you'll be able to bring them back to life..." Hook suggested, deciding to take a page out of Bella's book and try to be nice.

Plus, if the Ogres or Cora's zombies were to attack them, a giant would be a good ally.

"I'd have to dig them out and look for them... I buried most of the destroyed beans when James and his men left..." Anton replied.

"Well, we have to find Cora and take the ashes back from her anyway. Even if the beans work, we can't let her have a possible way to follow us. You could join us in Lake Nostos in a few days." Bella suggested.

"Wait here." Anton said before he rushed off.

"Did you see that he has one of the destroyed beans around his neck? Why don't we just take this one?" Hook asked her in a whisper.

"Because it wouldn't be right and because it's better if we make friend with him." Bella replied and he nodded.

Anton came back a few minutes later with something in his hands.

"Here, it's a magical mirror. I have one too, it's easy to use. This way we'll be able to talk and I'll know where to find you." he offered.

"Thank you!" Bella exclaimed before she added:

"Can it join other mirrors too? Like back in Storybrook?"

"I think so yes, as long as they're spelled." he nodded and handed something else to Bella.

It was a little silk pouch, only the size of her hand. It was very pretty and she was sure that it cost a lot of money.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Don't open it here. It's for you, only you. You're the first human to show me true friendship and your my first real friend. I know you're sincere when you say that if you could you'd take me back home with you so it's to thank you for your concern. Open it later." He told her and Hook swore the giant was blushing.

"Thank you Anton, I'm glad you stopped to listen to us, you're a good friend. If we ever come back here with everyone, I promise I'll come see you and try to find a way for you to be with us if you haven't found another land to be happy on." Bella told him.

"I'd hug you but I'm afraid I'd crush you." The giant replied, making her chuckle.

"Well, in my mind I'm hugging you." she replied.

"Yeah, everyone's hugging." Hook muttered, a little jealous of Bella's connection with Anton.

"You should take Jack's sword. The poison on the blade won't hurt you and it'll be easy enough for you to handle. Jack had her sword design especially for her." Anton suggested.

"Her? Wait, Jack was a girl?" Hook and Bella exclaimed together.

"Yeah, Jacqueline, Jack for short... She was a bad person." He replied.

"Well, thank you. Surprisingly enough I don't feel odd carrying it. It's not too heavy and if the poison can't kill me it's a good thing given how clumsy I can get." Bella nodded while she grabbed the sword and Hook went to get Jack's sword scabbard before he helped Bella put it the right way.

As soon as Bella grabbed the sword, deciding that it was hers, the name Jack changed to become hers.

"I've heard of such swords... They change names with every new owner that's deserving of the power of the sword." Hook explained as he kept on helping Bella in the new accessory.

"Cool." She breathed out.

The proximity made Bella blush. Hook was so close to her now that it sent shivers all over her body. Anton looked away for a moment, he felt like he was intruding on an intimate moment and he didn't want that.

"Well, I feel a bit weird but I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough." Bella smiled.

"I'm sure you will." Anton and Hook both replied, smiling at her.

After that, Bella put the mirror, the compass and Anton's gift to her in her bag before Hook and her started on going down the beanstalk.

"Well, that went well. I can't wait to get down so you can finally tell me your secret." Hook exclaimed as they both started to go down.

"Right, I almost forgot this was coming..." Bella sighted.

.

While Bella and Hook were winning over a giant rumored to be lethal, in Storybrook, a lot was happening.

For the first full moon since the curse was broken, Ruby stayed hidden in the library basement and didn't hurt anyone, unable to get free and reassuring herself in the fact that she still had control when, the next morning, she woke up and remembered everything. Unfortunately, the next morning, they discovered a dead body and the town wanted to pin it against Ruby since it was a guy that flirted with her often. Charming joined Graham in the investigation while Henry stayed in the Library with Belle and they soon discovered that King George was behind it all. They even found out that he had stolen Ruby's cap, the one who helped her keep control during the full moons.

While they were looking for the once defeated King at his work place and his apartment, the man broke into the sheriff's station and managed to steal the hat, following Regina's instruction on where to look.

Regina was all to happy to inform them of the intrusion as soon as they came back, smirking and knowing that they'd be too late to save the hat.

The prince and the huntsman ran as fast as they could to find George but just like Regina had predicted, the hat was already done burning when they arrived.

"Why? Why did you do that?" David asked him.

"Because I want you to know what it's like to be left without hope of a family. I want you to know what it's like to be all alone." George yelled back at him.

"Get over yourself, it's not my fault if James died and it's not my fault if you never had a family. You could have remarried and had more children instead of tearing me away from my home. You chose your own fate." David replied, trying to keep calm.

"Don't worry, they had another plan. Now all we have to do is hope that they get the ashes from Cora." Graham reassured his girlfriend's father while he cuffed the culprit.

"What are you going to do to him?" David asked.

"Well, he did kill someone so it's jail time for him." Graham replied.

They put George in the cell next to Regina's and started seriously discussing what they were going to do with them because they took all the cell space they had. Plus, they couldn't officially imprison former King George for killing a mouse, even if said mouse had been turned into a man. It was Enchanted Forest business, not something that could be dealt with in this world.

"Gold has been working with the Blue fairy on a cell like the one we locked him in back home. We'll be able to lock Regina in it soon." David informed him.

"How soon?" He asked.

"Probably a couple of days more. Don't worry, she won't bother you much longer. We'll lock her up in there and nobody will ever have to worry about her ever again." The prince informed him.

"Good, because I was seriously considering asking Gold to render her mute or change her into something small enough that I could step on her by mistake." The sheriff confessed, making David chuckle.

.

While Bella and Hook were climbing down, Emma was getting worried and impatient.

"I never should have let her go, this way way too dangerous for her. If anything happened to her it'll be on me. I was stupid to leave her all alone with Hook... if she told him about her father he probably killed her himself..." Emma started ranting.

"Stop worrying so much Emma, I'm sure she's fine." Snow tried to sooth her.

"It hasn't been that long. Who know how long it took them to get to the top. We can't exactly expect that compass to be the first thing they see when they enter the place... We still have a few hours before we need to start worrying." Mulan replied.

"Maybe... I'm still worried though." Emma insisted as she sat back down and decided to prepare the Chimera that Mulan and her had killed so that Bella would have something to eat when she came back down.

"It's a lot of meat..." Aurora said while the beast was roasting on the fire.

"Yeah, I don't know about Hook but Bella won't eat the snake part of the thing, she'll probably stick to the goat part, maybe the lion one but that's it." Emma nodded.

"I miss Granny's." Snow sighted.

"So do I." Emma nodded.

* * *

_**I hoped you liked this 10th chapter.**_

_**What do you think will happen for King George in the future? I can tell you that he will appear again.**_

_**Don't forget to review,**_

_**Lorelei Candice Black**_


	11. Chapter 11

**_Part 11_**

* * *

Bella and Hook managed to reach the bottom of the beanstalk, all too happy to be on solid ground once more and to see that there was food and fresh water waiting for them.

"Bella! I was getting worried! Are you okay?" Emma asked as she hugged her sister.

"I'm fine, we have the compass and I'm almost unharmed." Bella replied, hugging her back.

"Almost? I guess it's better that what could have happened..." Emma looked at Bella hand and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Miss Bella here managed to win over the giant without fighting." Hook said with a proud smile as he took a sip from his flask.

"Well, you two sit and eat. We'll stay here for a couple more hours so you can rest a bit and then we have to take the road again." Snow suggested.

"Now Miss Swan, I believe you owe me a secret." The charming pirate asked as they both went to sit down in front of the grilling meat.

"I guess I do."Bella sighted.

"Bella?" Emma and Snow asked her curiously.

"He could sense that I was keeping something from him...I told him that I would tell him what it was as soon as we were back down the bean with the compass." Bella explained.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mulan asked her.

"I'm sure... I have one word... If you don't have your word, then what do you have?" Bella replied with a soft smile before she took a bite out of the Chimera.

"Well, I'm listening Love." He smiled encouragingly at her, eating some meat too.

"I want your word that no matter what I tell you, you'll help us get back home, knowing you'll come with us and that we won't back out of this deal. Please..." She begged him.

"I have only one word Bella. I promised already. What could be so bad that you think I'd back off a deal?" He replied, getting worried.

What could possibly be so bad? He couldn't see what was so wrong, he couldn't guess anything that could be that bad. The TSM finder wouldn't have indicated her as a perfect match if her secret was so bad.

"My secret is who I am... Emma, Snow, Mulan and Aurora know it, so it's not really a secret, only to you... Have you ever heard of the Rainbow fairy?" She asked him.

"A couple of times, yes. Nobody has seen her, ever, but I've seen her magic work a few times. Actually I believe that she was the one to bewitch the Sword you got up there. What, you're going to tell me that you're her or something?" he asked and Bella stored the information about the sword for later.

"No, I'm not a fairy, far from it." Bella replied while Emma chuckled, remembering Bella in a fairy costume once when she was a little girl.

"Than what is it?" Hook asked, wanting to know more.

Emma wanted to ask Bella what was so special about the sword but she knew that now wasn't the right time. She stored the question in her brain for later. Right now, Bella needed her support to tell Hook the truth about herself.

"Apparently she can see the future...she saw the curse coming and Emma being the savior. She couldn't do anything to stop it from happening, not something so big but she knew that it wasn't fair to put the fate of everyone on such a young girl that would be alone for 28 years so...she created me to be there for her... She needed someone who would be the product of True love, someone who would be involved in the curse... She found my parents... They never made love, they only kissed before my father's fear of honesty of the heart drove my mother away, though I know he did it to protect her from himself because he was afraid of hurting her without realizing it. Rainbow got my mother pregnant magically with my father and hid the pregnancy from everyone, even my mother herself... After a couple of months, my mother started making her way back to my father, wanting to show him that they could be happy together, that she could show him support, that he didn't need magic if he was honest with her but Regina, the evil queen, caught her and put her in a cell. Rainbow took me away when it was time and put me in a frozen state until Emma was born..." Bella told him as clearly as she could without actually saying the names.

"Your father has magic and your mother was in one of Regina's cell when the curse broke? Who are they?" Hook asked her, his face nothing but serious.

He had a bad feeling in his chest, like he could taste a especially nasty truth.

"I think you know... Belle is my mother and... Rumpelstiltskin is my father." She admitted, feeling like she was dropping a bomb on the guy.

"You've been playing me then... you don't want me to go back with you... You were going to leave me here all along..." He started accusing her as he dropped the meat he was eating on the ground.

"No!" She protested, maybe too loudly since her word echoed all around.

"Really? I have trouble believing you."

"Bella doesn't lie Hook! Trust me, when she lies to you, you'll see it all over her face, you won't need my gift to know it." Emma snapped at him.

"You're right..." he realised, remembering how easy it was for him to see her half lies earlier.

"I swear... Listen, my father has changed like I told you before but I understand that he did horrible things in his past, especially to you. We talked about this. He told me everything. When you told us your name, I knew what you were looking for. Dad told me your story with him, I know what he did to Milah...I..." She didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, I know, we talked about this up there, only you told me that The Dark One was only a friend of yours, someone who helped you and who you worked for." he interrupted her, trying to sort things through his brain.

It was just his luck, his one True Soul Mate was his enemy's daughter, the sister of the boy he had betrayed in Neverland... Could things get any more complicated between them?

"Why did you cut me off that tree then? Why didn't you let the Ogres eat me?" He asked her.

"I'm not sure..." she lied and he rose and eyebrow, showing her that he knew she was lying.

"All I can tell you is that he's aware that you're traveling with us and that he said that the most important was that we came home, even if you came with us... He _has_ changed, he's ready to face his punishment... All he wants is the time to find Baelfire and make amends with him, for a chance to tell my half brother he loves him before he meets his fate." Bella explained, trying with all her might to convince him.

"Emma, you have special gifts... Do you honestly believe he has changed?" Hook asked the blond Savior.

"Yes, I do." Emma nodded.

"Listen, why don't we concentrate on getting back home? We really need to concentrate on getting the ashes back from Cora and on getting home **without** bringing her or letting her follow us and when we're on our way home, then we'll try to figure out what to do about your plan to kill my father to get revenge on Milah." Bella begged him.

Hook was silent for a moment and everyone was watching him, waiting to see what he would do. The pirate took the red TSM finder from his pocket and starred at it for a few minutes, thinking about what it had showed him.

"Is that..." Mulan started but Hook cut her a look that shut her up.

"Nothing." he told her before putting it in her pocket.

"What is it?" Aurora asked.

"It doesn't matter for now." Hook replied, hoping Mulan would get the hint.

"He's right, I'll explain what it is to you later." Mulan nodded.

Snow had, too, heard of the compass and seen it in one of her mother's books. She knew what it was and since Hook was glancing at it and then back at Bella she could only guess what it had shown him. she decided to keep her findings to herself for now.

"You're right... I know I can trust you not to double cross me... Did Rumpelstiltskin really say it was okay to bring me with you? He knows I want to kill him." Hook was confused.

"My father has let his cowardice rule his life for a long time and even if he has magic in Storybrook, all he wants now is a chance to prouve to my mother and Bae that he's a changed man, that he can be brave and honest. I know that it won't excuse him for killing Milah but she _did_ break his heart _and_ his trust in an equally cowardly way, no matter what you choose to think. I'm not saying that she deserved what she go, far from it, I would never say that but my father acted on impulsion... I know that he did regret doing it, and not only because he knew you'd do your best to kill him but because he did love Milah." Bella insisted.

"How do you know he regretted killing her?" He asked her.

"Because he told me and I saw it was the truth." Bella replied just like Emma didn't detect a lie.

"Fine then. I'll see what to do about the Dark one when we get to your land." Killian Jones said before they heard someone calling Bella's name from her bag.

Curious, she opened it only to find Anton's face on the mirror.

"Hey Anton, what's wrong?" She asked him.

"I just wanted to make sure you had gotten back down alright, that the pirate didn't double cross you or anything." The giant replied, a gentle smile on his face.

"Hey!" Hook protested.

"Thank you, we both did. Are you on your way to join us already?" She asked him.

"Not yet, no. I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright." He replied.

"Okay, well, thank you. By the way, can I open your gift now?" she asked him.

"Of course you can. " He nodded before he said goodbye and turned the mirror off.

"I have a feeling that we missed a lot up there." Mulan said while Bella opened the silk pouch.

Bella opened the small pouch delicately, not wanting to break it. While she did this, Killian got everyone's attention and started telling them in detail everything that happened up the beanstalk, leaving out his moment with the TSM finder.

In the pouch, Bella found a few black beans, about 4 or 5 of them and she guessed that it was a few of the destroyed ones that he had been keeping around as a reminder and that he had given her some in case he couldn't join them and in case his plan to join them failed. She decided not to tell anyone about them. Once they got the water from the lake she would restore them and keep them safe in case of an emergency. If Anton had wanted everyone to know about them he would have shown them to her in front of Hook.

She smiled seeing this. Anton was a good friend already. She could see where he was coming from. he had been played and lonely for a long time before she arrived and showed him that good human existed. Now that he had made a friend, he wanted to do his best to keep her safe and happy. She would make sure he didn't come to regret it and that he found some happiness too.

Other than the beans, Bella found a superb necklace and bracelet. It was a golden chain with small gems off all colors. It was very pretty without attracting too much attention, it looked fancy without taking too much place around the neck. The bracelet fit perfectly with the necklace and she decided to put them back in the pouch. She didn't want to risk loosing it or breaking it in a fight against Cora.

Along with the jewelry, Bella found a few golden coins and a few gems of different colors. She could guess that it was all worth a lot of money and that he had probably thought she would be able to use it to get back home safely. While Hook told them how she won over the giant, Bella called him back with the mirror and thanked him.

After disconnecting the call with Anton, Bella decided to try and contact her father so she held the mirror in her hands and said clearly:

"Rumpelstiltskin"

Everyone looked up to see what she was doing and waited to see if he would answer. Hook frowned but still looked at her. Only a few seconds later she saw her father's shop so she kept on calling him, figuring that if he was around he'd hear her.

"Aunt Bella?" Henry said as he came in view, attracting Emma close to the mirror so she could see him.

"Henry, what are you doing here? How are you doing? Is everyone okay?" Emma asked.

Emma, Snow and Bella were all looking at the mirror, wanting news from their loved ones back home.

"Mom! I'm fine. Graham and grandpa went to bring Regina in a special cell M. Gold and the Blue fairy made together just for her. Belle and I are here so we can be safe in case Regina breaks free before they lock her up in the right jail cell. Ruby is outside, guarding the door." Henry explained.

"Where is my mother then?" Bella asked.

"Bella? I'm right here Honey! How did you find a mirror already spelled? Your father said that you didn't know how to do this." Belle asked her daughter.

"The giant Anton gave it to me. He's helping us get home." Bella said before she summarize the situation to her mother.

"How is it back there mom?" Henry asked Emma.

"Very different. I'll tell you all about it later, now that we have the mirror, communicating will be much easier." Emma replied with a happy smile.

"What are you doing kid? What's in this mirror?" David asked as he entered the shop.

"Mirrors can be dangerous Henry, you can't even answer them, you don't know what evil could be calling!" The dark one exclaimed as soon as David was done talking.

Gold could be seen rushing in view of the mirror, ready to forcefully disconnect it.

"I love you too dad." Bella chuckled.

"Bella? How?" he asked her.

"Anton, the giant." Bella said before Emma added:

"According to Hook, Bella won over the giant and made a new friend in less than 5 minutes."

"Well, if anyone could do it, it's her. She won me over didn't she?" The proud father replied, ignoring the remark about Hook.

"Snow? I'm sorry honey, King George burned the hat, we don't have any way of helping you come home it's all up to you now..." David explained.

"It's okay, we have a plan." Snow replied.

"What plan? Is there anything we can do to help?" Gold asked.

"Well, Anton is going to try to find some of the beans he destroyed and join us at Lake Nostos in a few days to restore them so we can use one to come back home." Bella explained.

"Yes, that should work." Gold nodded, doing his best to ignore Hook's proximity with his daughter.

"But first we need to take the ashes back from Cora or she'll be joining us in Storybrook." Hook added, doing his best to ignore that he was speaking to the Dark One who had killed his old love.

The fact that the man didn't have the skin of a crocodile anymore helped a little.

"Yes, he's right, Cora **cannot** come to Storybrook. As bad as you think Regina is, Cora is worst and you don't want her in the same town as Henry." The dark one nodded seriously.

"I think it's time to go to your cell and find this ink you told us about dad." Bella sighted.

"Yes, you should. Can I please have a moment alone with Hook? He and I need to discuss something." Gold asked.

"Now? Dad..." Bella started but her father cut her off.

"Don't worry Bella, it has nothing to do with what you think. Please just give him the mirror." He pleaded.

Bella sighted and nodded, giving the mirror to the pirate with a look that meant "_Behave_" before she said goodbye to her parents and went to take a small nap before they had to leave again.

On the other side of the mirror, Belle, David and Henry told Gold that they would see him at Granny's when he was done.

"So, you're going to ask me to spare you?" The pirate asked.

"No, as I told Bella, this as nothing to do with you wanting to kill me. You and I both know how dangerous Cora really is, how powerful she is and I know you are a man of honor. I want to ask you to please, make sure Bella gets home safely. If Bella comes home unharmed, I will give you back your hand." Gold offered.

"What would I do with a hand unattached to my body? And for what possible reason would you have kept it?" Hook asked, disgusted.

"I didn't keep it but I can use my powers to make your hand grow back, I'm sure you'd find it... well, handy." Gold chuckled.

"You'd do this, simply if I keep Bella safe?" Hook asked him, surprised.

"Yes." The older man nodded.

"And I could still decide to kill you afterward, you aren't asking me this so I can spare you?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yes, all I want is to know that my daughter is safe and that you consider giving me the time to find Bae and make things right with him, introduce him to his sister. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes... But to be honest with you, I don't think anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes with your daughter wouldn't want to protect her... She's... Special." Hook said to his enemy after glancing at a sleeping Bella.

"Yes, her heart is golden and as big as the world. I have to go but please tell Emma that I'll give Henry a mirror, she'll be able to speak with him anytime she wants." The Dark One said before ending the call for now.

Gold didn't want to bring the subject of Bella being in love with him but he could see in the man's eyes that he was sensible to his sweet daughter's undeniable charm. He almost asked the pirate not to break his daughter's heart but in saying this he would have revealed her secret, put her in an uncomfortable position and broken her trust.

Sighting, he grabbed a smaller mirror, linked it to Henry and brought it to the young boy who would be able to contact his mother every time he missed her.

He was trying, truly, to be a better person, to be good and he thought that he was doing quite well for someone who had been evil for so long. Would it be enough though? Would it be enough to convince Hook not to kill him, to give him more time with his son and new found daughter? He just had to keep his fingers crossed and hope that Hook fell in love with Bella. This would ensure his safety, right?

* * *

**So, chapter 11... What did you think of it?**

**Aren't mirrors the cell phones of the Enchanted Forest?**

**I'm having a hard time writing the chapter where Emma, Bella, Henry and Gold go to New York to see Neal... Let's hope it won't delay the future chapters too much...**

**Review please.**

**Lorelei Candice Black**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Part 12_**

* * *

Once Bella and Hook had managed to sleep a few hours, they all followed Snow to the caves where the Dark One's cell was hidden. It was a long walk and they all prayed that Cora wouldn't attack them on the way.

Anton called Bella a few hours after his last call, saying that he was about to make his way down the beanstalk. He wanted to join them to the cell but Bella suggested he went ahead to the Lake Nostos and started digging so they were ready to do it once they came back with the ashes and once Cora was dealt with. He agreed and listened to the directions Snow gave him before he signed off.

"He sounded very excited." Emma noticed.

"It's understandable. He's been lonely for so long..." Bella replied.

"I hope we'll find a way for him to come with us." Snow commented.

"Dad said that he's looking for a way to make a giant smaller in Storybrook but even if we can't he'll be able to restore a few beans and go looking for other giants. He won't be lonely much longer." Bella reminded them.

"I can't imagine being alone for so long without anyone to talk with... It's so sad..." Aurora commented.

"Well, he managed not to go mad, I think it shows strenghts of the mind." Hook said not to be left out as they all walked to their destination.

They all walked for several hours before it started getting dark and they decided to stop for the night. According to Snow, they were only a few hours away from the jails and they decided to use the time to rest, just in case they needed to fight against Cora later.

Hook offered to take first watch but Emma declined and took it. She was going to spend a while on the mirror with Henry anyway and after she was done, Snow would speak with David.

Snow was just about to wake Hook up so he could take his own turn watching out when she heard them coming closer. Quickly, she woke up Emma and the others, telling them to get ready to fight, which they did.

Mulan was staying as close as she could to Aurora, needing to protect her in order to keep the promise she had made Philippe before he died.

Hook was trying not to let himself get distracted by Bella but it was hard. Even if he wasn't in love with her, he still liked her and he knew that he was his last chance at finding the perfect match, the perfect love and he couldn't let her die. He was a little away from the others, surrounded by 5 zombies when Cora appeared and the zombies fell back.

"Well, well, well, Hook... Would now be a good time to ask you why you betrayed me?" She asked him.

"What can I say? I felt I would be far safer with them." He replied, trying his best to appear nonchalant about it all.

"Who was it?" She asked him.

"Who was it that what?" He asked her back, confused.

"Who was it that you chose over me? Who convinced you to help them?" She asked him.

"Bella." He replied.

He could have lied to her but it would have been too dangerous. Cora would find out the truth anyway so he wanted to keep his lies to a minimum.

"I see... Even now, the way you keep glancing her way to make sure that she's fine... You chose her but you don't know everything about her... You don't know what you just did..." She was smiling now, as if she was in on a very big secret he didn't know.

"What are you talking about?" Hook asked her.

He had a feeling that Cora maybe didn't know that Bella had been honest with him about who her father was.

"It doesn't matter now. You chose her and I'll happily watch you suffer through the consequences of your choice. You have something that belongs to me. Give it back right now and I will stop this attack on your new friends. If you don't I'll order them all to kill your Bella and make her suffer." Cora insisted.

Hook decided that pretending he hadn't used them yet was the best way so he took the leather wrist protections out of his bag and said:

"At least let me keep one... Give us a chance to find a way back to Storybrook too..." He pleaded and Cora laughed.

"I'm leaving you alive, that's all the chances you deserves for betraying me, dear." Cora smiled as she took both protections.

"You won't attack us again?" He asked, hopeful.

"I won't attack again tonight. You know Hook, things could have been very easy for you if you had followed through with my plan... I think I'll enjoy watching you go through the consequences of your actions... Your new Love has a few surprises in store for you." Cora declared with a chuckle before she evaporated in a dark purple cloud.

Soon after her, the zombies left and the girls, who had noticed him talking with Cora, rushed to him.

"What happened? Why did she leave?" Mulan asked him.

"She wanted the protections back, the ones used to climb the Beanstalk. I pretended we hadn't used them yet to stall her..." He explained.

"But why did she leave us alive? It's not really like her..." Snow insisted.

"I think she thought I betrayed her for love or something. She thinks I fell in love with Bella and that I don't know who her father is. She said that she'll enjoy watching me suffer through the consequences of my choices..." Hook replied, hoping that nobody would hear the uneasiness in his voice when he mentioned Bella and when he suggested that he didn't really love her.

"She thinks that you'll find out who Bella's father is later and that it will make you suffer..." Snow nodded.

"It's a good things that Anton told us that he was down the Beanstalk already." Bella said, trying not to let the fact that Killian had just said he didn't love her, that apparently fate wanted her to suffer.

"We shouldn't stay here, she could break her word and come back." Snow declared.

"We need this ink as soon as possible." Mulan added and everyone agreed.

On the way, Bella used the mirror to call Anton and she asked him if he could go to the settlement and try to find Cora's things while she wasn't there yet. Nobody was surprised when he agreed, needing only one smile from Bella to be convinced. He understood that Cora was evil and that she could easily hurt his new friends so he promised to do his best to find the hearts and the ashes.

The group walked for a few more hours before they found themselves in front the jail. It made Bella uncomfortable to be there, she could almost picture her father behind those weird looking bars and for this reason, she asked to be going alone in the cell. It felt like she should be alone, like this was a private moment. They agreed and remained a few feet away while she walked to the hole in the wall her father had described to her and grabbed the scroll.

She opened it to make sure Emma's name was still all over it and since it was, she exited the cell, not giving one last look behind her and joined the others.

"Okay, so now what?" Aurora asked as they made their ways out of the cave.

"Now we ask Anton if he found anything and if he did, we join him at the Lake." Snow replied and everyone nodded.

.

Cora didn't like manual work and never had, that's why she enjoyed magic and controlling people's hearts so much, she always had someone to do the dirty work for her.

Until now.

Now she found herself having to climb this stupid Beanstalk on her own, and this only because Hook couldn't keep his word. She really hoped that Rumpelstiltskin would make him suffer later because if he didn't, she would do it for him.

After several hours of climbing, she finally arrived on top of the beanstalk, in front of the giant's castle. Using her powers, she opened the door and walk inside. She used several attraction spells but nothing came to her, no compass, no bean, not even a destroyed one. Still, she couldn't let this be the end of her plan so she searches for several more hours.

In the end, needless to say that she was severely pissed off and blasted a few things around her. Before she went back down to the Enchanted Forest, she decided to take a look further out, in the giant's old fields but once again, she found nothing that she could use.

Just dirt.

Dirt.

More dirt.

As she stormed down the Beanstalk, she decided that she would kill not only Snow, but the entire group including Hook. It was obvious to her that he had lied to her, that he had gone up the beanstalk and gotten the compass she needed. If he really wanted to piss her off and be on the opposing side, she would show him what it resulted in.

.

Anton had followed Mulan's directions and he quickly found the empty settlement. He went directly to the biggest of all the little houses and tore the roof off of it.

Inside, there was a small bed, a table with a couple of chairs, a dresser and a trunk. Nothing else. Using all the care he could, he tried to open them before he gave up and simply grabbed the two pieces of furniture and placed them in his bag.

It would be easier this way. Bella would be able to look for whatever she needed on her own.

Happy to know that he had done what his new friend wanted from him, he turned around and headed toward the lake to join them as fast as he could.

.

When Cora arrived back at her place, she was already in a super pissed off state of mind.

She was so mad that she wouldn't have been surprised if smoke had been going out of her ears.

She went right to the place where she kept her things, Lancelot's old house, and when she saw the roof throne off of it, she rushed inside, only to find that her things were missing.

Needless to say that it didn't improve her already very dark mood and she didn't need her powers to now who had done it. It was Snow. Somehow, Snow White and her allies had found yet again a way to win but Cora wouldn't let her get this one. She would kill them all, she would rip all of their hearts out and make them suffer for what they had dared do to her.

She wouldn't let them win.

Not this time. Not when she was so close to having her daughter back under her grasp and the opportunity to take the Dark One's powers.

.

Bella was the first who noticed Anton before they arrived at the Lake and they all rushed to join him. He had dug a big hole in the dry Lake Nostos and now there was water in it again.

"Anton! How did everything go?" Bella asked him after he noticed them.

"Great. I took everything that was in the house you told me about. It's here." He replied.

They noticed only then the two items and immediately started looking through them. They quickly found the hearts and Snow suggested they crushed them all before Cora sent Zombies on them again. After that, they kept on looking and found the ashes.

"We can't leave her trunk behind, there are too many magical things in there. We should take it with us." Snow suggested.

"I agree. My father will know what to do with it." Bella added.

She was about to close it when Hook stopped her.

"Wait. Here." He said as he took out a small box with mushrooms.

"What is this?" Aurora asked, curious.

"I recognize this! That's mushroom from a place called Wonderland. It can make you bigger or smaller. Jack and James had some." Anton exclaimed.

"Well, she has two sorts so I guess you can try one. If it's the one that makes you bigger you'll only go back to your size, if it's the one that makes you smaller you'll be able to come back with us." Bella replied.

"It's temporary though. It only lasts a few hours, a day top and there aren't much of it." Anton explained.

Bella looked disappointed for a while before she took the mirror out and called her father.

"Bella! I was worried. How are things going?" He asked her as soon as she said his name.

"I don't have much time dad, Cora could come any time. We have the ashes and all of her things, we'll take them with us but if Anton eats magical mushrooms from Wonderland that makes him smaller, can you make it permanent?" Bella asked her father.

"As long as you keep a piece of the mushroom, I can make it grow back in one piece and from there I can make its effect permanent, yes. I'm guessing the giant will be coming with you then?" The Dark one replied.

"Yes, he will be. Thanks dad. We should be able to see you soon, I'll call you as soon as I know more." Bella told him before she disconnected the call.

"Maybe I should wait until we get to the ship to eat it, so it lasts longer..." Anton suggested and everyone agreed.

They used the water to restore the couple of beans Anton had taken with him and Bella discreetly put water on the beans that were in the pouch Anton had given her. She thought that keeping them a secret would be a good idea in case of an emergency. Better safe than sorry was something she really believed in.

After resting for a while, Hook told them where to find the Jolly Roger and they were about to go on their way when Cora appeared in front of them.

"You have something that belongs to me." The witch yelled.

"You're not going to Storybrook. You've lost." Emma replied, staring at the woman right in the eyes while Bella took the scroll out of her bag.

Thankfully, her father had explained to her how to use it so Bella walked closer to the woman who was exchanging snappy comments with Hook, Snow and Emma. Once she was close enough, Bella blew on the ink and watched in amazement as the magic left the parchment and went around Cora, slowly sticking to her skin like a trap.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Emma exclaimed.

"Let's go before she finds a way to free herself." Snow declared.

They all agreed and after checking that Cora couldn't move (she couldn't even talk), they started on the way they were on earlier.

As they walked, Mulan and Aurora talked and they both felt bad about leaving this land when Philippe had died there.

They were still talking about it while Bella was informing her father of what they had done to Cora. Of course, Bella's well informed father told them that there was a way to reunite Philippe's soul with his body which made them all stop. He told them what needed to be done and where they needed to go in order to do it and they both agreed that going was the best option.

"We should still keep in touch, I want to know how things will go for you..." Mulan told the group of friend she had made lately.

Hook noticed that Mulan's eyes were mainly on Bella and he didn't like it. Even if he hadn't made a move to be with Bella, it didn't mean that someone else could. Especially a girl.

"How about you take my mirror? I don't need it now and I'm sure Bella's father will get them all some more later." Anton offered.

"Thank you so much!" Aurora exclaimed before she hugged the shrunken giant.

"We'll keep you informed of everything, promise." Mulan said and they started hugging each other goodbye.

Once again, Hook frowned when Mulan hugged Bella slightly longer than she did the others.

Bella suddenly had an idea and only one look with Anton was necessary for him to understand and agree. Bella was about to use one of the beans he had given her but he acted faster and handed her one of the beans he had restored, wanting Bella to keep all of hers in case of an emergency.

"Here, take it. Anton gave it to me. There's nobody around here and you might still want to join us in Storybrook once Philippe is back. We'll be ready for you. And we have Cora's heart so we'll be able to control her if she ever breaks free and comes after you before you leave. All you'll have to do is warn us and we'll control her." She told the Asian warrior.

"Thanks Bella... I... I wish I had spent more time with you, getting to know you better... I'll miss you..." Mulan told her, trying to hide her true feelings the best way she could.

"Hey, this is only a goodbye! As soon as you find Philippe, the three of you will be welcome in Storybrook and we'll have all the time to get to know each other better."

"You're right." Mulan smiled.

She hoped Bella and the others hadn't noticed but she had a feeling that Emma had her doubts. At first she was just attracted to Bella because she was pretty and had kind eyes but the more she got to know her, the more attracted her heart was to hers. Maybe she would have her chance when they went back to Storybrook, who knew really? After all, Bella was right, this was only a goodbye. Mulan only hoped that Hook wouldn't have the time to get to Bella first, she had a feeling that the Pirate was after the same girl as she was and if he had some serious issues to work on before he could be with Bella, he still seemed to have a certain advantage over her: he was a man.

.

In Storybrook, everyone was excited.

As soon as Bella had called her father to inform him that they had just boarded Hook's ship with everyone and everything they had taken from Cora, he had rushed to find Belle at the library. Henry had just left school and was with her, helping her sorting through books. Gold told them that Bella would arrive soon and they rushed to the Sheriff's station to inform David and Graham of the good news.

On the way, Henry warned Leroy and Granny's who in turn informed Archie and the Blue fairy.

"Look, over there, the ship!" Henry exclaimed as he pointed to the ship that had just appeared over the horizon.

"They're here!" Ruby smiled happily.

"You look nervous Rumple... What's wrong?" Belle asked her love.

"I'm just worried about how things are going to turn out with Hook... I took everything I would need to give him his hand back but I hope he'll consider giving me some time to find Bae..." The Dark one confessed and Belle reassured him:

"Don't worry. Snow told David that she believed he would do it. He seems to care for Bella, he won't kill you because it would hurt her. I'm sure everything will go fine."

"Mom!" Henry yelled and they could see Bella, Snow and Emma waving happily at them from the boat.

* * *

_**So, what do you think of this chapter?**_

_**Soon it'll be Emma's turn to be confused... Should she stay with Graham or have a shot with Neal? What do you think? What do you want?**_

_**Review please!**_

_**Lorelei Candice Black**_


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